UC-NRLF 


SB    SE 


A  GUIDE  BOOK 

ON 

The  Philippine  Question 


PREPARED   HY 


MAXIMO  M.  KALAW 

Secretary  of  the  Philippine  Mission 
to  the  United  States 


\ 


WASHINQTOl^;  D.'  C. 


NOTE. — After  reading,  kindly  place  this  booklet  in  your  files.  It  may  come 
in  handy  for  reference  purposes  when  the  Philippine  question  comes 
before  Congress  for  final  solution. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE  PHILIPPINES  TO  AMERICA 3 

GEOGRAPHICAL  LOCATION  AND  AREA  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES   .    .  5 

POPULATION G 

NATIVE  CIVILIZATION  PRIOR  TO  SPANISH  OCCUPATION    ....  G 

SCHOOLS  DURING  THE  SPANISH  REGIME  .    .    .    .  ' 7 

PROGRESS  OF  THE  FILIPINOS  DURING  THE  SPANISH  REGIME   .    .  8 
THE    PHILIPPINE    REPUBLIC    OF    1898    AS    VIEWED    BY    SOME 

AMERICAN  OFFICIALS r    •    •  <J 

PRESIDENT  TAFT  ON  FILIPINO  CHARACTER  AND  CAPACITY  .    .  12 
THE  AMERICAN  COLONIES  IN   1776  AND  THE  PHILIPPINES  OF 

TODAY »  .    .  13 

THE  PHILIPPINE  INDEPENDENCE  MOVEMENT 14 

THE    "DECLARATION    OF    PURPOSES"     OF    -THE     PHILIPPINE 

LEGISLATURE 1C 

PRESIDENT     WILSON     ON     SELF-DETERMINATION     FOR    SMALL 

NATIONS 21 

PRESIDENT  WILSON  SAYS  INDEPENDENCE  "ALMOST  IN  SIGHT"    .  22 
AMERICA'S  PHILIPPINE  POLICY  AS  DECLARED    BY  THE  PRESI- 
DENTS OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 23 

AMERICA'S  PHILIPPINE  POLICY  AS  DECLARED  BY  THE  CONGRESS 

OF  THE  UNITED  STATES 24 

EX-PRESIDENT    ROOSEVELT    ON    KEEPING    PROMISES    TO    THE 

FILIPINO  PEOPLE 24 

THE  PRESENT  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES    ....  26 

FILIPINO  LOYALTY  DURING  THE  WAR 28 

GOVERNOR-GENERAL  HARRISON  ON  FILIPINO  CAPACITY    ...  29 
ACTING  GOVERNOR  YEATER  ON  THE  PHILIPPINE  CONGRESS     .  31 
SOME  OUTSTANDING  ACCOMPLISHMENTS  OF  THE  FILIPINO-CON- 
DUCTED GOVERNMENT    

SEVENTY  PER  CENT  OF  FILIPINOS  ARE  LITERATE 33 

DIVISION  OF  PROPE^T^  r  *  ;*  ^    ' 

RECENT  ECONOMIC' PROGRESS 

THE  GttOWT. E  tor  ^okcrqLS  \  £*«.  rVr* 35 

ESTABLISHMENT  OF  UNIVERSAL  FREE  EDUCATION  36 
THE  NON-CHRISTIAN  PEOPLES  OF  THE  PHILIPPINES  .    .    . 

THE  FILIPINO  WOMAN 39 

JAPAN  IN  THE  PHILIPPINES •    •    •    •  ^ 


THE  PHILIPPINES  TO  AMERICA 

The  Filipino  people  would  not  be  just  to  themselves  if  at 
this  moment,  when  their  political  separation  from  the 
sovereign  country  is  being  proposed,  they  should  fail  to  ex- 
press in  the  clearest  and  most  emphatic  manner  the  senti- 
ments and  purposes  that  inspire  their  action.  They  there- 
fore deem  it  their  duty  to  affirm:  That  independence,  instead 
of  destroying  or  weakening,  will  strengthen  the  bonds  of 
friendship  and  appreciation  created  by  the  gratitude  of  the 
Filipino  people,  not  only  for  the  final  measure  of  complete 
justice  and  humanity  that  they  confidently  expect,  but  for 
all  the  previous  disinterested  work  so  splendidly  performed 
for  the  benefit  of  the  Philippines  by  so  many  faithful  sons  of 
America;  that  this  gratitude  will  be  the  first  fundamental 
factor  in  the  future  relations  between  the  United  States  and 
the  Philippine  Islands;  that  in  the  present  state  of  the  inter- 
national affairs  the  Filipino  people  merely  aspire  to  become 
another  conscious  and  direct  instrument  for  the  progress  of 
liberty  and  civilization;  that  in  the  tranquil  course  of  their 
years  of  constitutional  development  they  will  maintain,  for 
all  people  inhabiting  their  hospitable  land,  the  essence  and 
benefit  of  democratic  institutions;  that  they  will  continue  to 
associate,  in  so  far  as  this  will  be  acceptable  and  their  strength 
will  permit,  in  the  work  of  reconstruction,  justice,  and  peace 
carried  on  by  the  United  States  in  continuation  of  those 
other  undertakings,  the  high  purpose  of  which  was  the  cause, 
according  to  President  Wilson,  "of  the  magnificent  coopera- 
tion during  the  war  between  the  American  and  Filipino 
peoples";  and,  finally,  that  in  thus  preserving  their  best 
traditions  and  institutions  in  the  new  situation  which  will 
strengthen  and  perfect  them,  the  Filipino  people  will  continue 
to  make  this  country,  as  heretofore,  a  safe  place  of  law  and 
order,  justice  and  liberty,  where  Americans  and  foreigners, 
as  well  as  Nationals,  may  live  peacefully  in  the  pursuit  of 
happiness  and  prosperity,  and  safe  in  the  enjoyment  of  their 
property  as  well  as  of  their  rights  and  their  liberty. — State- 
ment of  the  Commission  of  Independence  of  the  Philippine 
Congress. 

416800 


«•»  •«  i 


Cocoanut  trees_on  the  beach;  a  typical  scene  of  the  Philippines. 

Geographical  Location  and  Area  of  the  Philippines 

The  Philippine  Archipelago  lies  north  of  the  Dutch  and  British 
Island  of  Borneo  and  the  Dutch  Island  of  Celebes,  south  of  the  Japa- 
nese Island  of  Formosa,  and  east  of  French  Indo-China,  the  British 
colony  of  Hongkong,  and  the  southern  provinces  of  the  Republic 
of  China.  It  runs  from  five  degrees  north  latitude  to  twenty-two 
degrees  north  latitude,  and  is  entirely  in  the  tropics.  Authorities 
have  stated  that  an  isosceles  triangle,  approximately  500  miles  on 
its  base  and  1,000  miles  on  the  sides,  would  enclose  all  except  the 
Sulu  group  of  coral  islands. 

Within  this  figure  there  are  3, 14  Inlands,  in  sizes  from  the  tiny 
islet,  inhabited  only  by  strange  tropical  birds,  to  Luzon,  with  its 
millions  of  people.  Luzon  has  aft  area  greater  than  the  entire 
state  of  Pennsylvania.  The  total  land  area  of  the  Philippine  Archi- 
pelago is  120,000  square  miles.  This  is  in  excess  of  the  combined 
areas  of  the  states  of  New  York,  New  Jersey,  Pennsylvania  and  Dela- 
ware. It  is  7,000  square  miles  larger  than  Great  Britain.  Luzon, 
in  the  north,  has  46,969  square  miles.  Mindanao  has  approxi- 
mately 36,292  square  miles.  Ten  islands,  Luzon,  Mindanao, 
Samar,  Negros,  Cabu,  Pansy,  Leyte,  Bohol,  Mindoro,  and  Masbate, 
contain  more  than  10,000  square  miles  each,  or  6,400,000  acres. 
Twenty  of  the  islands  have  between  100  and  1,000  square  miles  each. 
Seventy-three  of  the  islands  contain  between  10  and  100  square 
miles  each,  262  islands  between  1  and  10  square  miles,  and  2,775 
islands,  seven-eighths  of  all,  contain  less  than  one  square  mile  each. 

The  Philippine  Islands  have  a  mildly  tropical  climate.  The  nights 
are  cool  and  sunstrokes  are  unknown.  The  temperature  record  for 
the  past  thirty  years  shows  an  average  of  80°.  The  recorded  death 
rate  per  1,000  whites  in  Manila  for  1917  was  8.8  as  compared  with 
16.5  for  New  York,  15  for  San  Francisco,  14  for  Chicago,  18  for 
Glasgow,  and  22  for  Belfast. 


i 


•. 


The  Luneta,  Manila.  One  of  the  delightful  features~of  Manila  life  is 
the  band  concert  given  by  the  Constabulary  band  every  evening  on 
the  Luneta. 

Population 

A  census  was  taken  early  this  year  (1919),  and  while  the  complete 
reports  have  not  yet  been  finished,  the  official  estimate  cabled  to  the 
War  Department  by  the  Director  of  the  Census  is  as  follows: 

Christian  population 10,000,000 

Non-Christian  population 500,000 

Total 10,500/000 

Of  this  population  over  1,750,000  males  are  qualified  voters. 
Native    Civilization    Prior    to    Spanish    Occupation 

The  Philippines  were  discovered  by  Magellan  in  1521.  In  1565 
the  Spaniards  made  the  first  permanent  settlement  at  Cebu.  In 
1570  they  occupied  Manila  and  were  in  control  of  the  islands  until 
1898,  the  year  of  American  occupation. 

"The  inhabitants  of  the  Philippines  possessed  a  culture  of  their 
own  prior  to  the  coming  of  the  Spaniards  to  the  islands.  Those 
along  the  coasts  were  the  most  advanced  in  civilization.  Their 
material  wealth  was  considerable.  The  chief  occupations  were 
agriculture,  fishing,  weaving,  some  manufacturing,  and  trade  both 
inter-island  and  with  the  mainland,  generally  in  the  form  of  barter. 
They  were  expert  navigators.  They  used  standard  weights  and 
measures.  The  year  was  divided  into  twelve  lunar  months.  They 
had  a  peculiar  phonetic  alphabet,  wrote  upon  leaves,  and  had  a 
primitive  literature.  The  majority  of  the  people  are  said  to  have 
been  able  to  read  and  write."  (Justice  George  A.  Malcolm,  "The 
Government  of  the  Philippine  Islands,"  pp.  27  and  28.) 

"The  inhabitants  of  these  islands  were  by  no  means  savages, 


University  Hall,  of  the  University  of  the  Philippines. 

entirely  unreclaimed  from  barbarism  before  the  Spanish  advent  in 
the  sixteenth  century.  They  had  a  culture  of  their  own."  (John 
Foreman,  an  English  scholar.) 

"They  had  already  reached  a  considerable  degree  of  civilization 
at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  conquest."  (Ferdinand  Blumentritt,  an 
Austrian  professor.) 

"  Upon  the  arrival  of  the  Spaniards,  they  found  the  ancestors  of  the 
present-day  Filipinos  in  possession  of  considerable  culture,  which 
is  somewhat  comparable  to  that  of  some  of  the  mountain  peoples 
of  today."  (Dr.  James  A.  Robertson,  an  American  scholar.) 

"The  Filipino  people,  even  in  pre-historic  times,  had  already  shown 
high  intelligence  and  moral  virtues  and  intelligence  clearly  manifested 
in  their  legislation,  which,  taking  into  consideration  the  circum- 
stances and  the  epoch  in  which  it  was  framed,  was  certainly  as  wise, 
as  prudent,  and  as  humane  as  those  of  the  nations  then  at  the  head 
of  civilization."  (Judge  Romualdez,  a  Filipino  scholar.) 

Schools  During  the  Spanish  Regime 

As  early  as  1866,  out  of  a  population  of  4,000,000  people,  there 
were  841  schools  for  boys  and  833  for  girls.  In  1892,  eight  years 
before  the  coming  of  the  Americans,  there  were  2,137  schools. 
There  were  also,  during  the  Spanish  regime,  colleges  and  universities 
where  professional  training  was  given.  The  colleges  were:  Uni- 
versity of  Santo  Tomas,  Manila,  established  in  1611^  (twenty-five 
years  older  than  Harvard);  San  Juan  de  Letran,  Municipal  Anthe- 
naeum,  Normal  School,  College  of  San  Jose,  the  Nautical  School,  the 
School  of  Commercial  Accounting,  the  Academy  of  Painting  and 
Drawing,  and  many  other  private  schools,  fourteen  of  which  were 
in  Manila,  while  others  in  the  provinces  must  also  be  reckoned. 
There  were  seminaries  in  Manila,  Nueva-Segovia,  Cebu,  Jaro  and 
Nueve-Caceres,  where  all  branches  of  secondary  instruction  were 

7 


Typical  Scene  on  the  Pangasinan  Road. 

taught  in  addition  to  those  which  constituted  the  studies  for  the 
priesthood.     (Data  from  the  American  Census  of  1903.) 

Progress   of  the   Filipinos   During   the   Spanish   Regime 

The  famous  French  explorer  of  the  Pacific,  La  Pemuse,  who  was 
in  Manila  in  1782.  wrote:  "Three  million  people  inhabit  these 
different  islands,  and  that  of  Luzon  contains  nearly  a  third  of  them. 
These  people  seemed  to  me  no  way  inferior  to  those  of  Europe; 
they  cultivate,  the  soil  with  intelligence,  they  are  carpenters,  cabinet- 
makers, smiths,  jewelers,  weavers,  masons,  etc.  I  have  gone 
through  their  villages  and  I  have  found  them  kind,  hospitable,  and 
affable."  ("Voyage  de  la  Perouse  autour  du  Monde,"  Paris,  1797, 
11,  p.  347.) 

Coming  down  nearly  a  generation  later,  the  Englishman  Craw- 
furd,  the  historian  of  the  Indian  Archipelago,  who  lived  at  the  court 
of  the  Sultan  of  Java  as  British  Resident,  said:  "It  is  remarkable 
that  the  Indian  administration  of  one  of  the  worst  governments  of 
Europe,  and  that  in  which  the  general  principles  of  legislation  and 
good  government  are  least  understood, — one,  too,  which  has  never 
been  skillfully  executed,  should,  upon  the  whole,  have  proved  the  least 
injurious  to  the  happiness  and  prosperity  of  the  native  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country.  This,  undoubtedly,  has  been  the  character  of 
the  Spanish  connection  with  the  Philippines,  with  all  its  vices,  fol- 
lies, and  illiberalities;  and  the  present  condition  of  these  islands 
affords  an  unquestionable  proof  of  the  fact.  Almost  every  other 
country  of  the  (Malay  or  Indian)  Archipelago  is,  at  this  day,  in 
point  of  wealth,  power,  and  civilization,  in  a  worse  state  than  when 
Europeans  connected  themselves  with  them  three  centuries  back. 
The  Philippines  alone  have  improved  in  civilization,  wealth,  and 


populousness."     ("History   of   the   Indian   Archipelago,"   etc.,    by 
John  Crawfurd,  F.  R.  S.     Edinburgh,  1820,  Vol.  ii,  pp.  447,  448.) 

The  German  naturalist  Jagor,  who  visited  the  Islands  in  1859- 
18GO,  wrote:  "Assuming  the  truth  of  the  above  sketch  of  pre- 
Christian  culture,  which  has  been  put  together  only  with  the  help  of 
defective  linguistic  sources,  and  comparing  it  with  the  present,  we 
find,  as  a  result,  a  considerable  progress,  for  which  the  Philippines  are 
indebted  to  the  Spaniards."  ("Travels  in  the  Philippines,"  Eng. 
Ed.,  p.  151.) 

The  Austrian  professor,  Ferdinand  Blumentritt,  wrote  in  La 
Solidaridad  of  October  15,  1899,  to  this  effect:  "If  the  general 
condition  of  the  civilization  of  the  Tagalos,  Pampangos,  Bicoles, 
Bisayans,  Ilocanos,  Cagayanes,  and  Sambales  is  compared  to  the 
European  constitutional  countries  of  Servia,  Roumania,  Bulgaria 
and  Greece,  the  Spanish-Filipino  civilization  of  the  said  Indian  dis- 
tricts is  greater  and  of  larger  extent  than  of  those  countries." 

Finally,  writing  from  historical  perspective,  the  foremost  American 
scholar  on  the  Philippines  gives  the  following  resume  of  the  results 
of  the  Spanish  administration:  "The  Spaniards  did  influence  the 
Filipinos  profoundly,  and  on  the  whole  for  the  better^  There  are 
ways,  indeed,  in  which  their  record  as  a  colonizing  power  in  the 
Philippines  stands  today  unique  in  all  the  world  for  its  benevolent 
achievement  and  its  substantial  accomplishment  of  net  progress. 
We  do  not  need  to  gloss  over  the  defects  of  Spain;  we  do  not  need 
to  condone  the  backward  and  halting  policy  which  at  last  turned  the 
Filipinos  against  Spanish  rule,  nor  to  regret  the  final  outcome  of 
events,  in  order  to  do  Spain  justice.  But  we  must  do  full  justice  to 
her  actual  achievements,  if  not  as  ruler,  at  any  rate  as  teacher  and"""* 
missionary,  in  order  to  put  the  Filipinos  of  today  in  their  proprr 
category."  ~"(Le  Roy:  "Philippine  Life  in  Town  and  Country," 
1905,  p.  6,  7.) 

The  Philippine  Republic  of  1898  as  Viewed  by  Some 
American  Officials 

John  Barrett,  now  director  of  the  Pan-American  Union,  saw  the 
Philippine  Republic  in  operation,  and  described  it  as  follows: 

"It  is  a  government  which  has  practically  been  administering  the 
affairs  of  that  great  island,  'Luzon,'  since  the  American  possession  of 
Manila,  which  is  certainly  better  than  the  former  administration.  It 
had  a  properly  formed  Cabinet  and  Congress,  the  members  of  which, 
in  appearance  and  manners,  would  compare  favorably  with  the 
Japanese  statesmen." 

Admiral  DejEey.  after  studying  Philippine  conditions  during  the 
Spanish- American  War,  spoke  of  the  Filipinos  as  follows: 
/    "In  my  opinion,  these  people  are  far  more  superior  in  intelligence 
and*  more  capable  of  self-government  than  the  natives  of  Cuba.     I 
y    am  familiar  with  both  races." 

General  Merritt,  on  his  arrival  in  Paris  in  October,  1898,  was 
reported  as  saying: 

"The  Filipinos  impressed  me  very  favorably.  I  think  great 
injustice  has  been  done  to  the  native  population.  .  .  .  They  are 
more  capable  of  self-government  than,  I  think,  the  Cubans  are.^ 
They  are  considered  to  be  guud  Catholics. — They  have  lawyers, 
doctors,  the  men  of  kindred  professions,  who  stand  well  in  the  com- 
munity, and  bear  favorable  comparison  to  those  of  other  countries. 
They  are  dignified,  courteous  and  reserved." 

General  ^Merritt  states  in  his  report  (Vol.  I,  Part  2,  War  Depart- 

9 


\>  ii  it  I  a  m  iciil  <>  Building,  Manila,  where  the  offices  of  the  Central  Govern- 
ment of  the  Philippines  are  located. 

ment  report  for  1898)  that  Aguinaldo  had  "proclaimed  an  inde- 
pendent government,  republican  in  form,  with  himself  as  President, 
and  at  the  time  of  my  arrival  in  the  Islands  the  entire  edifice  of 
executive  and  legislative  departments  had  been  accomplished,  at 
least  on  paper." 

General  Anderson  says:  "We  held  Manila  and  Cavite.  The  rest 
of  the  island  was  held  not  by  the  Spaniards,  but  by  the  Filipinos.  On 
the  other  islands,  the  Spaniards  were  confined  to  two  or  three  forti- 
fied towns."  ("Our  Rule  in  the  Philippines,"  170,  No.  Am.  Rev., 
Feb.,  1900,  p.  281.) 

"His  (Aguinaldo's)  success  was  not  in  the  least  astonishing,  as 
after  the  various  islands  had  driven  out  the  few  remaining  and  dis- 
couraged soldiers  of  their  openly  declared  enemy,  they  naturally 
turned  to  Luzon  for  some  form  of  central  government,  the  islands  of 
the  south  being  well  aware  of  their  inability  to  maintain  successful 
separate  and  distinct  political  establishments.  The  crude  one  in 
process  of  formation  in  central  Luzon  offered  itself  through  its  visiting 
agents  and  was  accepted  in  part  (notwithstanding  race  animosities 
and  divergent  business  interests),  and  very  probably  because  no 
other  alternative  was  offered.  The  eight  months  of  opportunity 
given  the  ambitious  Tagalo  by  the  hold  on  Spain  which  the  United 
States  maintained  was  sufficient  also  for  him  to  send  his  troops  and 
designing  men  into  the  distant  provinces  and  hold  the  unarmed 
natives  in  subjection  while  he  imposed  military  authority,  and  thus 
in  December,  1898,  we  find  in  Northern  and  Southeastern  Luzon,  in 
Mindoro,  Samar,  Leyte,  Pana^,  and  even  on  the  coast  of  Mindanao 
and  in  some  of  the  smaller  islands,  the  aggressive  Tagalo  present  in 
person,  and,  whether  civilian  or  soldier,  supreme  in  authority." 

10 


(Report  of  General  Otis,  August  21,  1899,  quoted  in  Harper's  "His- 
tory of  the  War  in  the  Philippines,"  pp.  99,  100.) 

"It  is  little  short  of  marvellous  how  rapidly  the  insurrection  has 
gained  ground  in  this  short  time,  and  how  extensive  and  successful 
the  operations  of  the  army  have  been.  The  insurgents  managed  in  a 
very  few  weeks  to  besiege  and  capture  numerous  small  Spanish 
positions  in  the  provinces,  and  they  completely  overran  the  whole 
Island  of  Luzon,  together  with  seven  adjacent  islands."  (F.  D. 
Millet:  "The  Filipino  Republic,"  September  16,  1898,  printed  in 
Harper's  "History  of  the  War  in  the  Philippines,"  pp.  65,  66.) 
/  "  By  December,  1898,  the  revolutionary  government  was  in  control 
of  almost  the  entire  archipelago."  (McKinley:  "Island  Possessions 
of  the  United  States,"  p.  234.) 

"The  revolutionary  government  was  universally  recognized 
throughout  the  islands,  except  in  Manila  and  seaports  still  held  by 
the  Spanish."  (Edwin  Wildman:  "Aguinaldo — A  Narrative  of 
Filipino  Ambitions,"  p.  142.) 

Albert  G.  Robinson,  the  Philippines  correspondent  for  the  New 
York  Evening  Post,  during  portions  of  1899  and  1900,  expresses  the 
opinion  that  "the  Philippine  Islands,  with  the  exception  of  the 
besieged  city  of  Manila,  were  virtually  in  the  hands  of  the  Filipinos." 

And  again  to  the  same  effect  that  "it  is  now  known  that  at  the 
time  of  the  arrival  of  the  American  army  in  Manila  in  June,  1898, 
alnipst  the  ^entire  area  of  the  Philippines,  practically  all  with  the 
exception  of  one  or  two  of  the  larger  co"ast  cities,\was  in  the  hands  oY 
OTe  insurgents.  Not  only  were  they  in  control  of  the  country;  they 
were  administering  its  political  affairs  as  well.  This  they  continued 
to  do  f o7  the  greater  part  of  the  island  throughout  the  following  year, 
practically  until  the  autumn  of  1899.  Up  to  that  time  the  territory 
occupied  by  the  forces  of  the  United  States  in  the  Island  of  Luzon 
was  confined  to  a  very  limited  area  in  the  vicinity  of  Manila,  with  a 
filamentary  extension  northward  for  some  fifty  or  sixty  miles  along 
the  Manila-Dagupan  railway.  Very  much  the  same  condition 
obtained  on  the  other  islands.  One  thing  is  certain:  although 
greatly  disturbed  by  the  conditions  of  war,  this  territory  was  under 

SOmeJorm  of  povernrnpntal   flfJmi'mgtrafmn ." 

Finally  quoting  a  letter  of  his,  dated  September  27,  1899,  to  the 
New  York  Evening  Post,  he  states:  "There  is  one  point  which  I 
think  is  not  generally  known  to  the  American  people,  but  which  is  a 
very  strong  factor  in  the  question  of  Filipino  self-government,  both 
now  and  in  any  future  position.  In  the  West  Indies  the  greater 
number  of  offices  and  official  positions  were  filled  by  Spaniards,  either 
native-born  or  from  the  Peninsula.  In  the  Philippines  the  percentage 
of  available  Spaniards  for  minor  positions  was  vastly  less  than  that 
shown  in  the  West  Indian  colonies.  The  result  was  that  while  the 
more  prominent  and  more  profitable  offices  in  the  Philippines  were 
filled  by  Spaniards,  many  of  the  minor  offices  in  the  larger  cities  and 
most  of  those  in  the  country  were  held  by  Filipinos.  Therefore, 
when  the  Filipino  party  assumed  the  government  for  those  districts 
which  the  Spaniards  evacuated,  the  Filipinos  had  a  system  of  govern- 
ment in  which  Filipinos  held  most  of  the  positions,  already  established 
for  their  purposes.  It  was  but  necessary  to  change  its  head  and  its 
name.  Instead  of  being  dominated  by  the  agents  of  Alfonso  XIII, 
por  la  gracia  de  Dios  y  de  la  Constitution  Rey  catolico  de  Espana, 
the  same  machinery  was  set  in  motion  and  controlled  first  by  the 


dictatorial  government  and  then,  by  the  Philippine  revolutionary 
government,  under  the  constitution  proclaimed  on  June  23,  18$8. 

11 


Library,  Philippine  School  of  Arts  and  Trades,  Manila.  The  Philippine 
public  schools  own  1,200  school  libraries,  all  of  which  are  open  to  the 
public. 

This  fact  simplified  matters  for  the  Filipinos  and  gave  them  the 
ground  upon  which  they  make  their  assertion  of  maintaining  a  suc- 
cessful administration  in  those  provinces  which  they  occupied." 
(Robinson:  "The  Philippines:  The  War  and  the  People,"  pp.  48, 
282,  403,  303.) 

Leonard  Sargent,  a  naval  cadet,  and  W.  B.  Wilcox,  paymaster  of 
the  Navy,  after  traveling  over  the  Island  of  Luzon,  at  that  time  wrote 
a  report  of  their  trip,  which  was  referred  by  Admiral  Dewey  to  the 
Navy  Department  with  the  indorsement  that  it  was  "the  most 
complete  information  obtainable."  Mr.  Sargent  remarked: 

"  Although  this  government  has  never  been  recognized,  and  in  all 
probability  will  go  out  of  existence  without  recognition,  yet,  it  cannot 
be  denied  that,  in  a  region  occupied  by  many  millions  of  inhabi- 
tants, for  nearly  six  months,  it  stood  alone  between  anarchy  and 
order. 

"As  a  tribute  to  the  efficiency  of  Aguinaldo's  government  and  to 
the  law-abiding  character  of  his  subjects,  I  offer  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Wilcox  and  I  pursued  our  journey  throughout  in  perfect  security, 
and  returned  to  Manila  with  only  the  most  pleasing  recollections  of 
the  quiet  and  orderly  life  which  we  found  the  natives  to  be  leading 
under  the  new  regime." 

President  Taft  on  Filipino  Character  and  Capacity 

Speaking  of  the  Filipinos,  Mr.  Taft  said,  in  his  special  report  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  in  1908: 

"The  friars  left  the  people  a  Christian  people — that  is,  a  people 
with  western  ideals.  They  looked  toward  Rome,  and  Europe,  and 
America  ...  It  is  the  only  Malay  or  oriental  race  that  is  Chris- 

12 


tian.  They  were  not  like  the  Mohammedan  or  Buddhist,  who 
despise  western  civilization  as  inferior  .  .  .  They  learn  easily  and 
the  most  striking  fact  in  our  whole  experience  in  the  Philippines  is  the 
eagerness  with  which  the  common  Filipino  agricultural  laborer  sends 
his  children  to  school  to  learn  English.  There  is  no  real  difference 
between  the  educated  and  ignorant  Filipino  that  cannot  be  over- 
come by  the  education  of  one  generation.  They  are  a  capable  people 
in  the  sense  that  they  can  be  given  a  normal  intellectual  develop- 
ment by  the  same  kind  of  education  that  is  given  in  our  common 
school  system." 

During  the  Philippines  Committee  hearings  conducted  by  the 
American  Senate  (1914)  Mr.  Taft  said: 

"The  word  'tribe'  gives  an  erroneous  impression.  There  is  no 
tribal  relation  among  them.  There  is  a  racial  solidarity  among  the 
Filipino  people,  undoubtedly.  They  are  homogeneous.  I  cannot 
tell  the  difference  between  an  Ilocano  and  a  Tagalog,  or  a  Visayan. 
The  Ilocanos,  it  would  seem  to  me,  have  something  of  an  admixture 
of  the  Japanese  blo^p! ;  the  Tagalogs  have  rather  more  of  the  Chinese; 
and  it  seemsTo  Inethat  the  Visayans  had  still  more.  But  to  me  all 
the  Filipinos  were  alike." 

Mr.  Taft  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  Filipinos  are  better  prepared 
for  self-government  than  the  Cubans. 

"In  the  Philippines  the  ultimate  prospect  for  self-government  is 
better  than  in  Cuba  for  the  reason  that  the  economic  conditions 
are  better  adapted  to  building  up  an  intelligent  middle  class  because 
there  is  a  much  greater  division  of  land  among  the  people."  (Phil. 
Committee  Hearings,  1914,  p.  383.) 

The  American  Colonies  in  1776  and  the  Philippines  of  Today 

"Let  him  who  scoffs  at  the  impossibility  of  Philippine  progress 
without  even  awaiting  events  make  a  comparison  between  the 
United  States,  when  she  adopted  her  Constitution,  and  the  Philip- 
pines if  she  be  permitted  to  ratify  hers.  In  179J)  the  number  of 
inhabitants  in  the  United  States  was  under  four  million.  The 
Philippines  have  double  this.  Of  the  American  inhabitants,  nearly 
one-fifth  were  negroes.  The  Philippines  have  nowhere  near  this 
proportion  of  non-Christians.  Of  the  American  inhabitants,  the 
ancestors  of  eight-tenths  were  probably  English  and  a  homogeneous 
part  of  the  community.  Of  the  Filipinos*  at  least  as  large  a  per- 
centage are  of  one  race.  Of  the  Americans,  the  intellect  of  the 
people  was  little  developed.  The  graduating  classes  of  all  the  col- 
leges in  1789  counted  up  to  about  170.  The  graduating  classes  of 
one  university  in  the  Philippines  exceed  this  number.  In  economic 
conditions  the  United  States  were  little  advanced,  although  the 
country  abounded  in  natural  resources.  The  same  statement  can 
be  written  for  the  Philippines."  (Justice  Geo.  A.  Malcolm: 
"Government  of  the  Philipine  Isiands,"  pp.  250.) 

In  ante-Revolutionary  days,   members  of  the  British  House  of 

0  Lords  and   House  of  Commons  held  no  very  flattering  views  of 

!  American  ambitions  and  capacity.  They  were  termed  "egregious 
cowards."  Their  manners  and  ways  of  living  were  ridiculed.  It  was 
prophesied  that  if  Great  Britain  abandoned  the  colonies,  they  must 
Jsoon  sue  for  succor  or  be  overrun  by  every  small  state.  A  philippic 
by  an  Englishman  in  1820  reads: 

1  "Since  the  period  of  their  separation,  a  far  greater  proportion 
,        of  their  statesmen  and  artists  and  political  writers  have  been  for- 

OMMM^o 


eigners,  than  ever  occurred  before  in  the  history  of  any  civilized 
and  educated  people.  During  the  thirty  or  forty  years  of  their 
independence,  they  have  done  absolutely  not  hi  ><j  for  the  Sciences, 
for  the  Arts,  for  Literature,  or  even  for  state, man-like  studies  of 
Politics  or  Political  Economy.  Confining  ourselves  to  our  own 
country,  and  to  the  period  that  has  elapsed  since  they  had  an  inde- 
pendent existence,  we  would  ask:  Where  are  their  Foxes,  their 
Burkes,  their  Sheridans,  their  Windhams,  their  Homers,  their 
Wilberforces? — where  their  Arkwrights,  their  Watts,  their  Davys? — 
their  Robertsons,  Blairs,  Smiths,  Stewarts,  Paleys  and  Malthuses? 
— their  Persons,  Parrs,  Burneys,  or  Bloomfields? — their  Scotts, 
Campbells,  Byrons,  Moores,  or  Crabbes? — their  Siddonses,  Kem- 
bles,  Keans,  or  O'Neils? — their  Wilkies,  Laurences,  Chantrys? — or 
their  parallels  to  the  hundred  other  names  that  have  spread  them- 
selves over  the  world  from  our  little  island  in  the  course  of  the  last 
thirty  years,  and  blest  or  delighted  mankind  by  their  works,  inven- 
tions, or  examples?  In  so  far  as  we  know,  there  is  no  such  parallel 
to  be  produced  from  the  whole  annals  of  this  self-adulating  race. 
In  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe,  who  reads  an  American  book?  or 
goes  to  an  American  play?  or  looks  at  an  American  picture  or  statue? 
What  does  the  world  yet  owe  to  American  physicians  or  surgeons? 
What  new  substances  have  their  chemists  discovered?  or  what  old 
ones  have  they  analyzed?  What  new  constellations  have  been 
discovered  by  the  telescopes  of  Americans? — what  have  they  done  in 
the  mathematics?  Who  drinks  out  of  American  glasses?  or  eats 
from  American  plates?  or  wears  American  coats  or  gowns?  or  sleeps 
in  American  blankets?  Finally,  under  which  of  the  old  tyrannical 
governments  of  Europe  is  every  sixth  man  a  slave,  whom  his  fellow- 
creatures  may  buy  and  sell  and  torture?"  (Rev.  Sydney  Smith: 
"Who  Reads  an  American  Book,"  Vol.  xxxiii,  Edinburgh  Review, 
January,  1820,  pp.  78-80,  printed  in  Hart:  "American  History  Told 
by  Contemporaries,"  Vol.  iii,  pp.  512-514.  See  also  Mrs.  Frances 
Milton  Trollope,  "Domestic  Manners  of  the  Americans,"  sec.  ed., 
1832,  Vol.  i,  pp.  48-188.) 

"No  true  American  would  concur  with  these  biased  assertions. 
But  remembering- — ponder  the  present  greatness  of  the  Republic — 
and  ponder  the  black  pictures  which  the  misanthropic  have  drawn  of 
these  isles.  No  false  hopes  should  be  aroused  by  Filipinos  from 
the  foregoing  parallel.  At  least  it  is  interesting  as  preaching  charity 
and  as  showing  possibilities."  (Justice  George  A.  Malcolm,  "Gov- 
ernment of  the  Philippine  Islands."  pp.  250,  251,  252.) 

The  Philippine  Independence  Movement 

After  the  armed  opposition  to  the  United  States  was  put  down  the 
Filipino  people  began  a  peaceful  campaign  for  independence.  At 
first  this  movement  was  not  an  organized  one,  because  in  the  early 
years  of  American  occupation  a  law  had  been  passed  by  the  Philip- 
pine Commission  prohibiting  all  agitation  for  independence.  The 
only  political  party  which  could  very  well  exist  under  these  conditions 
was  the  Federal  party,  which  advocated  statehood  and  permanent 
annexation  to  the  United  States.  This  party,  however,  soon  saw 
the  unpopularity  of  its  stand,  for  it  could  not  find  supporters  either 
in  the  Philippines  or  in  the  United  States,  and  so  as  soon  as  conditions 
permitted  the  advocacy  of  separation,  it  left  out  the  statehood  plan 
and  advocated  independence  after  a  period  of  preparation.  In 
the  meanwhile  a  strong  independence  party  had  been  formed  called 

14 


The  two  most  prominent  Filipino  leaders,  Manuel  L.  Quezon,  Presi- 
dent of  the  Philippine  Senate,  and  Sergio  Osmena,  Speaker  of  the 
Philippine  House  of  Representatives. 

the  Nationalist  party,  and  at  the  first  national  election  to  the  Philip- 
pine Assembly  in  1907  this  party  obtained  popular  favor,  for  out  of 
the  eighty  representatives  elected  there  were  only  fifteen  members  of 
the  old  Federal  party — this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
Federal  party  had  changed  its  platform  and  advocated  "independ- 
ence. 

If  there  were  any  doubt  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  Filipino  people 
on  independence,  this  was  dispelled  by  the  attitude  of  the  Philippine 
Assembly,  the  first  national  representative  body  to  be  convoked 
following  American  occupation.  At  the  end  of  the  first  session  this 
representative  body  unanimously  ratified  the  closing  address  of 
Speaker  Osmena  on  the  question  of  independence.  The  Speaker, 
in  part,  had  said: 

"Permit  me,  gentlemen  of  the  Chamber,  to  declare  solemnly 
before  God  and  before  the  world,  upon  my  conscience  as  a  deputy 
and  representative  of  my  compatriots,  and  under  my  responsibility 
as  President  of  this  Chamber,  that  we  believe  the  people  desire 
independence,  and  that  we  believe  ourselves  capable  of  leading  an 
orderly  existence,  efficient  both  in  internal  and  external  affairs,  as  a 
member  of  the  free  and  civilized  nations." 

By  virtue  of  the  Organic  Act  of  the  Philippines  passed  by  Congress 
in  1902,  the  Philippine  Assembly  was  allowed  to  send  a  representa- 
tive to  Washington  to  voice  the  aspirations  of  the  Filipino  people. 
In  1907  the  Hon.  Pablo  Ocampo  was  sent  to  Washington  as  Resident 
Commissioner,  who,  in  pursuance  of  the  mandate  of  the  Assembly, 
advocated  the  independence  of  the  Philippines.  His  successor,  the 

15 


Hon.  Manuel  L.  Quezon,  who  was  Resident  Commissioner  from  1909 
to  1916,  continued  with  great  vim  and  vigor  the  campaign  for  inde- 
pendence in  the  United  States.  In  1911  the  Democratic  party,  which 
had  advocated  independence,  secured  control  of  the  House,  and  the 
following  year  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Insular  Affairs 
reported  a  bill  providing  for  a  qualified  independence  for  eight  years 
and  for  complete  independence  in  1921.  In  1914  a  bill  was  passed 
by  the  House  of  Representatives  providing  for  independence  as  soon 
as  a  stable  government  could  be  established  in  the  islands.  The  bill, 
however,  was  crowded  out  of  the  calendar  in  the  Senate  and  failed 
to  be  passed.  The  independence  movement  was  constantly  gaining 
ground,  and  two  years  afterwards,  in  February,  1916,  when  Congress 
again  took  up  the  Philippine  question,  the  Senate  passed  the  so- 
called  Clarke  Amendment,  which  would  grant  the  Philippines  inde- 
pendence within  four  years,  although  the  time  might  be  extended 
upon  the  advice  of  the  President  to  Congress.  The  Clarke  Amend- 
ment had  the  support  of  the  Filipino  people.  It  was  contended  in 
the  House  of  Representatives,  however,  that  it  would  be  unwise  to 
set  a  definite  date  for  independence,  for  nobody  knew  what  the 
contingency  would  be  at  the  time.  What  the  House  did  was  simply 
to  repass  the  bill  it  had  passed  in  1914,  promising  in  its  preamble 
that  the  Philippines  should  be  granted  their  independence  "as  soon 
as  a  stable  government  could  be  established  therein."  The  Senate 
receded  from  its  position  and  passed  the  House  bill,  which  thus 
became  the  formal  pledge  of  the  American  nation  to  the  Filipino 
people. 

In  the  meanwhile  the  independence  movement  in  the  Philippines 
was  constantly  growing.  A  group  separated  itself  from  the  National- 
ist  party,  believing  that  the  party  did  not  work  hard  enough  for 
independence,  and  this  group  called  itself  the  Third  party.  The 
old  Federal  party  had  been  converted  into  the  Progressive  party, 
and  was  now  advocating  early  independence.  The  two  opposing 
parties  were  soon  merged  into  one  party  called  the  Democratic  party, 
charging  the  Nationalist  party  of  being  unfaithful  to  the  people  and 
not  doing  all  it  could  for  the  independence  of  the  Philippines.  It 
advocated  a  more  radical  measure  for  the  Philippines,  and  was  reluc- 
tant in  accepting  the  Jones  law,  which  simply  promised  independence 
as  soon  as  a  stable  government  could  be  established  in  the  islands. 
President  Wilson  had  given  the  Filipino  people  a  larger  amount  of 
autonomy  through  the  appointment  in  1913  of  a  majority  of  Fili- 
pinos in  the  Upper  House,  or  Philippine  Commission,  and  this  step 
gave  the  Filipinos  virtual  autonomous  powers  in  their  domestic 
affairs.  The  Jones  law,  which  promised  independence,  ratified  this 
presidential  step  and  gave  the  Filipinos  a  completely  elective  legis- 
lature composed  of  a  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives,  and 
practically  gave  them  control  of  the  Executive  Departments.  Today 
there  are  only  two  Americans  in  the  political  departments  of  the 
Philippine  Government. 

From  the  passage  of  the  Jones  law  in  1916  to  the  ending  of  hos- 
tilities in  Europe,  the  Filipino  people  refrained  from  all  agitation  in 
favor  of  independence.  Their  reason  was  America's  entry  in  the 
war.  (See  "Filipino  Loyalty  During  the  War,"  page  29.) 

The  "Declaration  of  Purposes"  of  the  Philippine  Legislature 

Now  that  the  war  is  ended  and  the  task  of  international  recon- 
struction has  begun,  the  Filipino  people  believe  that  the  time  has 

16 


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come  for  the  final  solution  of  the  Philippine  independence  problem. 
They  claim  that  the  condition  which  the  United  States  required 
precedent  to  the  recognition  of  their  independence — the  establish- 
ment of  a  stable  government — is  already  fulfilled.  On  November  1, 
1918,  the  Philippine  Legislature  passed  a  concurrent  resolution  creat- 
ing a  "Commission  of  Independence"  to  be  composed  of  the  presid- 
ing officers  of  both  houses  of  the  Legislature  and  other  members  of 
the  Legislature,  for  the  purpose  of  considering  and  reporting  to  the 
Legislature: 

"(a)  Ways  and  means  of  negotiation  now  for  the  granting  and 
recognition  of  the  independence  of  the  Philippines.  j 

"  (b)  External  guarantees  of  the  stability  and  permanence  of  said  , 
independence  as  well  as  of  territorial  integrity.  - 

"  (e)  Ways  and  means  of  organizing  in  a  speedy,  effectual  and  j 
orderly  manner  a  constitutional  and  democratic  internal  govern-  I 
ment."  i 

One  of  the  first  actions  of  the  Commission  of  Independence  was  to  | 
recommend  the  sending  of  a  special  Philippine  Mission  to  the  United  ? 
States.  This  recommendation  was  approved  by  the  Philippine  i 
Legislature  in  Joint  Resolution  No.  11,  and  forty  prominent  Filipinos 
representing  both  houses  of  the  Legislature,  commercial,  industrial,  I 
agricultural  and  labor  interests,  presided  over  by  Senate  President 
Manuel  L.  Quezon  as  chairman,  and  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
Palma  as  vice-chairman,  were  sent  to  the  United  States.  The 
opposition  party  was  represented  by  its  .president,  Hon.  Emiliano 
T.  Tirona. 

On  March  7,  1918,  the  Philippine  Legislature  passed  a  Declaration 
of  Purposes  which  would  serve  as  instructions  or  guides  to  the  Com- 
mission of  Independence  and  the  Philippine  Mission  to  the  United 
States.  The  Declaration  of  Purposes,  in  part,  reads  thus: 

Declaration  of  Purposes 

"  The  Philippine  question  has  reached  such  a  stage  that  a  full  and 
final  exchange  of  views  between  the  United  States  of  America  and  the 
Philippine  Islands  has  become  necessary.  We  need  not  repeat  the 
declarations  respecting  the  national  aspirations  of  the  Filipino  people. _ 
Such  declarations  have  been  made "fronTTime"t6  timein  the  most 
frank  and  solemn  manner  by  the  constitutional  representatives  of  the 
Philippine  nation  and  are  a  matter  of  permanent  record  in  public 
documents  covering  more  than  a  decade  of  persistent  efforts,  parti- 
cularly during  the  last  three  years.  America,  on  her  part,  has  been 
sufficiently  explicit  in  her  purposes  from  the  beginning  of  her  occu- 
pation of  the  Philippines.  .  .  . 

"In  submitting  the  Philippine  question  to  the  Government  and 
people  of  the  United  States,  the  Commission  of  Independence  will 
find  it  unnecessary  to  refer  to  the  natural  acerbity  of  the  situation, 
or  to  the  anxiety  of  our  people  which  two  decades  of  occupation 
have  only  served  to  accentuate.  The  steadfastness  of  our  position 
is  not  due  to  mere  sentiment,  but  to  the  justice  of  our  cause,  sancti- 
fied by  the  laws  of  God  and  nature  not  only,  but  admitted  in  the 
promises  solemnly  made  by  the  United  States  and  accepted  by  the 
Philippines.  Although  attention  should  respectfully  be  invited 
to  the  fact  that  the  Filipino  people  have  never  renounced  their 
independence,  not  even  in  the  moments  of  the  greatest  adversity 
brought  about  by  the  enforced  or  voluntary  submission  of  their 
own  leaders,  yet  the  Commission  of  Independence  in  dwelling  upon 


One  of  the  4,000  school   gardens  cultivated  by  pupils  enrolled  in  the 
public  schools  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 


the  promises  made,  will  unreservedly,  and  with  the  deepest  gratitude, 
recognize  that  they  were  made  freely  and  generously  to  a  small  and 
powerless  people  after  they  had  suffered  defeat  in  the  field  of  battle. 
The  deliberate  attitude  of  our  country,  in  reposing  confidence  in 
those  promises  and  laboring  peacefully  in  pursuance  thereof,  must 
also  be  asserted.  Thus,  after  the  rupture  of  relations  occasioned 
by  three  years  of  war,  during  which  the  right  of  the  Filipinos  to 
their  independence  was  disputed,  unsuccessfully  so  far  as  they 
were  concerned,  violence  gave  way  to  harmony,  and  hostility  to 
cooperation;  and  thanks  to  the  growing  influence  of  the  new  condi- 
tions of  peace,  Americans  and  Filipinos,  who  a  short  time  ago  fought 
each  other  and  stained  the  Philippine  soil  with  blood,  undertook 
jointly  together,  on  the  basis  of  a  friendly  undertaking,  a  magnifi- 
cent labor  which  has  been  carried  on  with  the  orderly  progress  of 
liberty  and  self-government. 

"Now,  in  applying  the  principles  enunciated  in  documents  and 
utterances  on  the  Philippines  to  the  conditions  now  existing  in  the 
islands,  the  Commission  of  Independence  will  find  the  following 
facts: 

"That  there  exist  at  present  in  the  Philippine  Islands  the  condi- 
tions of  order  and  government  which  America  has  for  nearly  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  required  in  all  cases  in  which  she  has  recognized 
the  independence  of  a  country  or  the  establishment  of  a  new  govern- 
ment. 

"That  there  exist  likewise  in  the  Philippines  all  the  conditions  of 
stability  and  guarantees  for  law  and  order  that  Cuba  had  to  estab- 
lish to  the  satisfaction  of  America  in  order  to  obtain  her  independ- 
ence, or  to  preserve  it,  during  the  military  occupation  of  1898- 
1902  and  during  the  intervention  of  1906-1909,  respectively. 

"That  the  'preparation  for  independence'  and  the  'stable  gov- 
ernment' required  by  President  Wilson  and  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  respectively,  contain  no  new  requisite  not  included 
in  any  of  the  cases  above  cited. 

"That  these  prerequisites  for  Philippine  independence  are  the 

19 


•^  •*« 


A  glimpse  of  the  court  of  the  General  Hospital,  Manila. 

same  as  those  virtually  or  expressly  establshed  by  the  Republican 
administrations  that  preceded  President  Wilson's  administration. 

"That  during  the  entire  time  that  the  Filipino  people  have  been 
with  America,  they  have  been  living  in  the  confidence  that  the 
American  occupation  was  only  temporary  and  that  its  final  aim  was 
not  aggrandizement  or  conquest,  but  the  peace,  welfare,  and  liberty 
of  the  Filipino  people. 

"That  this  faith  in  the  promises  of  America  was  a  cardinal  factor 
not  only  in  the  cooperation  between  Americans  and  Filipinos  during 
the  years  of  peace,  but  also  in  the  cooperation  between  Americans 
and  Filipinos  during  the  late  war. 

"That  the  condition  of  thorough  development  of  the  internal 
affairs  of  the  country  and  the  present  international  atmosphere  of 
justice,  liberty,  and  security  for  all  peoples  are  the  most  propitious 
for  the  fulfillment  by  America  of  her  promises  and  for  her  redemp- 
tion of  the  pledges  she  has  made  before  the  world. 

"In  the  light  of  these  facts  and  considerations,  the  Filipino  people 
are  confident  that  it  will  be  possible  to  arrive  at  a  satisfactory  final 
decision,  as  we  deal  no  longer  with  a  disputed  question,  but  are 
merely  endeavoring  to  agree  upon  the  final  adjustment  of  a  matter 
with  regard  to  which,  according  to  President  Wilson's  words,  there 
exists,  so  far  as  fundamentals  are  concerned,  'a  perfect  harmony  of 
ideals  and  feelings'  between  the  governments  of  the  United  States 
and  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  which  harmony  has  brought  about 
'  that  real  friendship  and  mutual  support  which  is  the  foundation  of 
all  sound  political  policy'  (November  29,  1918). 

"Therefore,  so  far  as  it  is  humanly  possible  to  judge  and  say,  we 
can  see  only  one  aim  for  the  Commission  of  Independence — independ- 
ence; and  we  can  give  only  one  instruction — to  get  it.  Thus  Amer- 
ica, in  adding  another  glory  to  her  banner  by  establishing  the  first 

20 


really  democratic  republic  in  the  East,  will  apply  a  second  time, 
generously  and  freely,  the  same  measure  of  humanity  and  justice 
that  she  applied  in  the  case  of  Cuba,  which  is  but  a  logical  and  natural 
sequence  of  the  immortal  principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence. This  Declaration,  which  belongs  to  all  humanity,  has  now  as 
much  force  as  it  had  in  the  days  when  America  proclaimed  it.  Amer- 
ica will  thus  vindicate  the  memory  of  President  McKinley,  to  whom 
'the  forcible  annexation'  of  peoples  meant  'criminal  aggression' 
and  who,  upon  taking  over  the  Philippines  'for  high  duty  in  the 
interest  of  their  inhabitants  and  for  humanity  and  civilization,'  sol- 
emnly said:  'Our  sacrifices  were  with  this  high  motive.  We  want 
to  improve  the  condition  of  the  inhabitants,  securing  them  peace, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  their  highest  good.' 

"Thus,  finally,  America  will  carry  out  the  efforts  and  assurances 
of  President  Wilson  when,  upon  the  signing  of  the  armistice,  he  said 
to  the  Filipinos:  'I  hope  and  belie /e  that  the  future  holds  brighter 
hope  for  the  states  which  have  heretofore  been  the  prey  of  great 
powers  and  will  realize  for  all  the  world  the  offers  of  justice  and 
peace  which  have  prompted  the  magnificent  cooperation  of  the  pres- 
ent war'  (November  29,  1918). 

"The  Filipinos  will  thus  have  a  better  opportunity  to  demonstrate 
how  deeply  rooted  is  their  gratitude  for  America  when,  after  her 
voluntary  withdrawal  from  these  Islands,  we  preserve  here  the  im- 
mortal spirit  of  her  democratic  institutions  and  associate  with  her 
in  her  future  enterprises  of  justice  and  peace  in  carrying  to  the 
darkest  corners  of  the  earth,  the  quickening  flame  of  justice,  dem- 
ocracy, and  liberty." 

In  addition  to  the  instructions  of  the  Philippine  Legislature 
the  Commission  of  Independence  cabled  the  Philippine  Mission  in 
the  United  States  further  instructions,  which  read  in  part  as  follows : 

"The  Philippine  Mission  will  please  convey  to  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  the  frankest  assurances  of  the  good-will,  friendship, 
and  gratitude  of  the  Filipino  people,  and  submit  with  as  much  respect 
as  confidence  the  question  of  Philippine  Independence  with  a  view 
to  its  final  settlement. 


"Now  that  the  war  is  over  and  the  world  is  engaged  in  applying 
in  the  concrete  the  principles  that  have  come  out  triumphant  from 
it;  now  that  the  Filipino  people  have  passed  the  tests  to  which  their 
capacity  has  been  submitted,  can  it  be  deemed  inopportune  or  ill- 
advised  for  them  to  submit  the  pending  question  to  the  United 
States,  or  even  to  any  other  competent  tribunal  of  the  world  for  its 
final  adjustment?  The  problem  being  so  varied  in  its  aspects,  the 
Filipino  people  will  welcome  an  opportunity  to  discuss  the  terms  of 
the  concession  of  independence  and  the  scope  of  the  covenants  neces- 
sary for  the  guaranty,  safety  and  stability  of  the  new  state  and  for 
the  establishment  and  maintenance  of  such  external  relations,  espe- 
cially with  America,  as  may  be  equitable  and  beneficial  and  as  the 
circumstances  may  demand." 

President  Wilson  on  Self-Determination  for  Small  Nations 

"We  are  glad  ...  to  fight  ...  for  the  rights  of 
nations,  great  and  small,  and  the  privilege  of  men  everywhere  ±Q 
choose  their  way  pJMife__aiid^obedience_  .  .  .  for  democracy, 

^         21 


for  the  right  of  those  who  submit  to  authority  to  have  a  voice  in 
their  own  governments,  for  the  rights  and  liberties  of  small  nations." 
— (President  Wilson,  April  3,  1917.) 

"said  .  .  .  small  and  weak  states  had  as  much  right  to  their 
sovereignty  and  independence  as  large  and  strong  states." — (Presi- 
dent Wilson,  May  30,  1916.) 

"This  war  had  its  roots  in  the  disregard  of  the  rights  of  small 
nations." — (President  Wilson,  February  11,  1918.) 

"Every  people  should  be  left  free  to  determine  its  own  polity,  its 
own  way  of  development,  unhindered,  unthreatened,  unafraid,  the 
little  along  with  the  great  and  powerful." — (President  Wilson,  Jan- 
uary 22,  1915.) 

"Peace  should  rest  upon  the  rights  of  people,  not  the  rights  of  the 
government — the  rights  of  people  great  and  small  iweak  or  power- 
ful, their  equal  rights  to  freedom  and  security  and  self-government 
and  to  participation  upon  fair  terms  in  the  economic  opportunities 
of  the  world." — (President  Wilson,  August  27,  1917.) 

".  .  .  What  we  demand  ...  is  that  the  world  be  made 
safe  .  .  .  for  every  peace-loving  nation  which  like  our  own 
wishes  to  live  its  own  life,  determine  its  own  institutions,  be  assured 
of  justice  and  fair  dealing  by  the  other  peoples  of  the  world  as 
against  force  and  selfish  aggression." — (President  Wilson,  January 
8,  1918.) 

"Let  us  stand  by  the  little  nations  that  need  to  be  stood  by." 
(President  Wilson,  October  19,  1916.) 

President    Wilson    Says    Independence    "Almost    in    Sight" 

The  Philippine  Mission  had  intended  to  see  President  Wilson,  but 
on  account  of  his  hurried  trip  to  Europe  he  delegated  Secretary  of 
War  Baker,  who  had  supervision  of  Philippine  affairs,  ot  meet  the 
Philippine  Mission.  On  April  4,  1919,  the  Secretary  of  War  read 
to  the  Mission  a  letter  to  him  from  President  Wilson  in  which  the 
President  said,  in  part: 

"Though  unable  to  meet  the  commission,  the  Filipino  people 
shall  not  be  absent  from  my  thoughts.  Not  the  least  important 
labor  of  the  conference  which  now  requires  my  attention  is  that  of 
making  the  pathway  of  the  weaker  people  of  the  world  less  perilous — 
a  labor  which  should  be,  and  doubtless  is,  of  deep  and  abiding  interest 
to  the  Filipino  people. 

"I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot  look  into  the  faces  of  the  gentlemen  of 
this  Mission  from  the  Philippine  Islands  and  tell  them  all  that  I 
have  in  mind  and  heart  as  I  think  of  the  patient  labor,  with  the  end 
almost  in  sight,  undertaken  by  the  American  and  Filipino  people 
for  their  permanent  benefit.  I  know,  however,  that  your  sentiments 
are  mine  in  this  regard  and  that  you  will  translate  truly  to  them  my 
own  feelings." 

After  reading  the  above  Secretary  Baker  gave  his  sentiments  on 
the  Philippine  question,  which  are  also  the  President's  own  senti- 
ments, according  to  the  above  letter.  Mr.  Baker,  in  part,  said: 

"I  know  that  I  express  the  feeling  of  the  President — I  certainly 
express  my  own  feeling;  I  think  I  express  the  prevailing  feeling  in  the 
United  States — when  I  say  that  we  believe  the  time  has  substantially 
come,  if  not  quite  come,  when  the  Philippine  Islands  can  be  allowed 
to  sever  the  mere  formal  political  tie  remaining  and  become  an 
independent  people." 

22 


America's  Philippine  Policy  as  Declared  by  the  Presidents  of 
the  United  States 

In  President  McKinley's  instructions  to  the  first  Philippine  Com- 
mission, on  the  20th  of  January,  1899,  he  expressed  the  hope  that 
these  commissioners  would  be  received  as  bearers  of  "the  richest 
blessings  of  a  liberating  rather  than  a  conquering  nation."  In  his 
message  to  Congress  in  the  same  year,  among  other  things  concern- 
ing the  Philippines,  he  said:  "The  Philippines  are  ours,  not  to  ex- 
ploit, but  to  develop,  to  civilize,  to  educate,  to  train  in  the  science  of 
self-government.  This  is  the  path  of  duty  which  we  must  follow 
or  be  recreant  to  a  mighty  trust  committed  to  us." 

President  Taft,  while  civil  governor  of  the  Philippine  Islands,  on 
the  17th  of  December,  1903,  said:  "From  the  beginning  to  the  end 
of  the  state  papers  which  were  circulated  in  these  Islands  as  authori- 
tative expressions  of  the  Executive,  the  motto  that  'the  Philippines 
are  for  the  Filipinos'  and  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
is  here  for  the  purpose  of  preserving  the  'Philippines  for  the  Fili- 
pinos,' for  their  benefit,  for  their  elevation,  for  their  civilization, 
again  and  again  and  again  appear  .  .  .  Whether  an  autonomy 
or  independence  or  quasi  independence  shall  ultimately  follow  in  these 
Islands  ought  to  depend  solely  on  the  question:  Is  it  best  for  the 
Filipino  people  and  their  welfare?" 

In  1908,  after  the  Philippine  Assembly  had  been  opened,  President 
Roosevelt,  in  his  message,  said:  "I  trust  that  within  a  generation  the 
time  will  arrive  when  the  Filipinos  can  decide  for  themselves  whether 
it  is  well  for  them  to  become  independent  or  to  continue  under  the 
protection  of  a  strong  and  disinterested  power,  able  to  guarantee  to 
the  Islands  order  at  home  and  protection  from  foreign  invasion." 

When  Mr.  Taft  was  Secretary  of  War,  in  April,  1904,  in  the  course 
of  a  speech  upon  the  Philippines,  he  said:  "When  they  have  learned 
the  principles  of  successful  popular  self-government  from  a  gradually 
enlarged  experience  therein,  we  can  discuss  the  question  whether 
independence  is  what  they  desire  and  grant  it,  or  whether  they  prefer 
the  retention  of  a  closer  association,  with  the  country  which,  by  its 
guidance,  has  unselfishly  led  them  on  to  better  conditions?*' 

In  opening  the  Philippine  Assembly  on  the  16th  of  October,  1907, 
Mr.  Taft,  then  Secretary  of  War,  said  :^' The  policy  looks  to  the 
improvement  of  the  people,  both  industrially  and  in  self-governing 
capacity.  As  this  policy  of  extending  control  continues,  it  must 
logically  reduce  and  finally  end  the  sovereignty  of  the  United  States 
in  the  Islands,  unless  it  shall  seem  wise  to  the  American  and  the 
Filipino  peoples,  on  account  of  mutually  beneficial  trade  relations 
and  possible  advantages  to  the  Islands  in  their  foreign  relations,  that 
the  bond  shall  not  be  completely  severed."  , 

President  Wilson,  in  a  message  to  the  Filipino  people  delivered  by 
Governor  Harrison  in  Manila,  October  6,~W13,  sscifd:  "We  regard 
ourselves  as  trustees  acting  not  for  the  advantage  of  the  United 
States  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  the  Philippine  Islands. 
Every  step  we  take  will  be  taken  with  a  view  to  the  ultimate  inde- 
pendence of  the  Islands  and  as  a  preparation  for  that  independence." 

And  in  his  message  to  Congress,  December  2,  1913,  he  said:  "By 
their  counsel  and  experience,  rather  than  by  our  own,  we  shall  learn 
how  best  to  serve  them  and  how  soon  it  will  be  possible  and  wise  to 
withdraw  our  supervision." 

23 


America's  Philippine  Policy  as  Declared  by  the  Congress  of 
the  United  States 

"  An  Act  to  declare  the  purpose  of  the  people  of  the  United  States 
as  to  the  future  political  status  of  the  people  of  the  Philippine 
Islands,  and  to  provide  a  more  autonomous  government  for  those 
Islands. 

"Whereas,  it  was  never  the  intention  of  the  people  of  the  United 
States  in  the  incipiency  of  the  War  with  Spain  to  make  it  a  war  of 
conquest  or  for  territorial  aggrandizement;  and 

"  Whereas  it  is,  as  it  has  always  been,  the  purpose  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States  to  withdraw  their  sovereignty 
over  the  Philippine  Islands  and  to  recognize  their  indepen- 
dence as  soon  as  a  stable  government  can  be  established 
therein;  and 

"Whereas,  for  the  speedy  accomplishment  of  such  purpose  it  is 
desirable  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  people  of  the  Philippines  as 
large  a  control  of  their  domestic  affairs  as  can  be  given  them  without 
in  the  meantime  impairing  the  exercise  of  the  rights  of  sovereignty 
by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  in  order  that,  by  the  use  and 
exercise  of  popular  franchise  and  governmental  powers,  they  may 
be  the  better  prepared  to  fully  assume  the  responsibilities  and  enjoy 
all  the  privileges  of  complete  independence:  Therefore  .  .  ." 
(From  the  Jones  law  passed  by  the  American  Congress  on  August 
29,  1916.) 

The  Jones  law  is,  in  the  words  of  its  author,  the  late  Representative 
Jones,  "the  everlasting  covenant  of  a  great  and  generous  people, 
speaking  through  their  accredited  representatives,  that  they  (the 
Filipinos)  shall  in  due  time  enjoy  the  incomparable  blessings  of  liberty 
and  freedom."  "Henceforward,"  said  the  foremost  spokesman  of 
the  Filipino  people,  Speaker  Sergio  Osmena,  in  accepting  the  Jones 
law  on  their  behalf,  "we  can  look  upon  the  American  flag  not  as  the 
symbol  of  an  imposed  government  but  as  the  emblem  of  a  nation 
whose  temporary  guidance  over  the  Filipino  people  will  serve  as  an 
instrumentality  for  the  most  speedy  assumption  of  the  responsibility 
of  an  independent  life." 

Ex-President  Roosevelt  on  Keeping  Promises  to  the  Filipino 

People 

In  an  article  published  in  Everybody's  Magazine  for  January, 
1915,  Mr.  Roosevelt  said: 

"The  first  and  most  important  thing  for  us  as  a  people  to  do  in 
order  to  prepare  ourselves  for  self-defense  is  to  get  clearly  in  our 
minds  just  what  our  policy  is  to  be,  and  to  insist  that  our  public 
servants  shall  make  their  words  and  their  deeds  correspond.  For 
example,  the  present  administration  was  elected  on  the  explicit 
promise  that  the  Philippines  should  be  given  their  independence,  and 
it  has  taken  action  in  the  Philippines  which  can  only  be  justified 
on  the  theory  that  their  independence  is  to  come  in  the  immediate 
future.  I  believe  that  we  have  rendered  incalculable  service  to  the 
Philippines,  and  that  what  we  have  there  done  has  shown  in  the  most 
striking  manner  the  extreme  mischief  that  would  have  followed  if  in 
1898  and  in  subsequent  years  we  had  failed  to  do  our  duty  in  conse- 
quence of  following  the  advice  of  Mr.  Bryan  and  the  pacifists  or 
anti-imperialists  of  that  day. 

"But  this  good  has  been  to  the  Philippines  themselves.  The 

24 


H 

§1 

3 


II 


only  good  that  has  come  to  us  as  a  nation  has  been  the  good  tit 
springs  from  knowledge  that  a  great  deed  has  been  worthily  p-- 
formed.  Personally,  I  think  it  is  a  fine  and  high  thing  for  a  natin 
to  have  done  such  a  deed  with  such  a  purpose.  But  we  cannot  ta  t 
it  with  bad  faith.  If  we  act  so  that  the  natives  understand  us  to  hae 
made  a  definite  promise,  then  we  should  live  up  to  that  promi:. 
The  Philippines,  from  a  military  standpoint,  are  a  source  of  weakn<s 
to  us.  The  present  administration  has  promised  explicitly  to  t 
them  go,  and  by  its  actions  has  rendered  it  difficult  to  hold  thei 
against  any  serious  foreign  foe.  These  being  the  circumstanc<, 
the  Islands  should  at  an  early  moment  be  given  their  independeie 
without  any  guarantee  whatever  by  us  and  without  our  retaining  ar 
foothold  in  them." 

In  his  Autobiography,  pp.  543-545,  Mr.  Roosevelt  writes:  " 
regards  the  Philippines  my  belief  was  that  we  should  train  them  ir 
self-government  as  rapidly  as  possible,  and  then  leave  them  free  > 
decide  their  own  fate.  I  did  not  believe  in  setting  the  time-lint 
within  which  we  would  give  them  independence,  because  I  did  it 
believe  it  wise  to  try  to  forecast  how  soon  they  would  be  fit  for  se- 
government;  and  once  having  made  the  promise  I  would  have  ft 
that  it  was  imperative  to  keep  it  ...  The  time  will  come  whent 
will  be  wise  to  take  their  own  judgment  as  to  whether  they  (te 
Filipinos)  wish  to  continue  their  association  with  America  or  not. 

.  .  If  after  due  time  the  Filipinos  decide  that  they  do  rit 
wish  to  be  thus  governed,  then  I  trust  that  we  will  leave." 

The  Present   Government   of  the   Philippines 

There  is  now  a  stable  government  in  the  Philippines.  This  -; 
the  verdict  of  the  representatives  of  the  American  Government  i 
the  Islands.  The  assertion  is  supported  by  facts.  Our  present  go- 
ernment,  to  quote  Mr.  Root's  admonition  to  the  Cuban  peop 
when  they  were  establishing  a  stable  government,  is  "a  governmet 
based  upon  the  peaceful  suffrage  of  the  people,  representing  t> 
entire  people  and  holding  their  power  from  the  people,  and  subjet 
to  the  limitations  and  safeguards  which  the  experience  of  a  constit- 
tional  government  has  shown  to  be  necessary  to  the  preservation  P 
individual  rights." 

Our  central,  provincial  and  municipal  governments  rest  upa 
the  peaceful  suffrages  of  the  Filipino  people.  The  Insular  Gover- 
ment  contains  a  complete  governmental  machinery,  recognized  ail 
supported  by  the  people.  The  active  and  governing  part  of  th; 
machinery  is  already  in  the  hands  of  the  Filipinos.  There  is  a  Con- 
cil  of  State  selected  from  the  representatives  of  the  people,  whii 
advises  the  Governor-General  on  all  public  matters,  prepares  t? 
budget,  determines  the  policy  of  the  different  departments  of  t? 
government,  and  recommends  measures  to  the  Legislature.  Wh? 
the  Governor  presides  over  the  Council,  the  next  highest  position  i 
the  Vice-President  of  the  Council,  occupied  by  a  Filipino.  There ; 
an  elective  Legislature,  composed  of  the  House  of  Representatives  ari 
a  Senate,  chosen  by  the  qualified  voters  of  the  Islands.  It  has  ge- 
eral  legislative  powers  within  the  limitations  of  the  Jones  law.  1 
that  Legislature  the  non-Christian  people  are  also  represented  b 
nine  appointed  members. 

We  have  a  judicial  system  based  on  the  sound  American  princip 
of  an  independent  judiciary.  Our  laws  and  our  courts  are  more  mo- 
ern  and  up  to  date  than  any  in  the  Far  East.  Our  codes  are  basi 

26 


v  snapshot  of  the  woman's  section  of  a  Manila  Liberty  Loan  Parade. 

a  Spanish  and  American  laws,  taking  in  the  conciseness,  symmetry, 
ad  philosophic  beauty  of  Spanish  substantive  law,  together  with 
ic  justice,  practicability,  and  efficiency  of  American  procedure. 

Our  present  government  is  "subject  to  the  limitations  and  safe- 
jards  which  the  experience  of  a  constitutional  government  has 
lown  to  be  necessary  to  the  preservation  of  individual  rights."  The 
hilippine  Government  has  been  subject  to  such  limitations  and 
ifeguards  since  1900,  when  President  McKinley,  in  his  instructions 
i  the  second  Philippine  Commission,  set  down  as  inviolable  rules  the 
mdamental  provisions  of  the  American  Bill  of  Rights.  Those  pro- 
'sions,  with  little  modification,  were  later  included  in  the  Organic 
ct  of  1902,  and  again  restated  in  the  Jones  law  of  1916.  For 
sarly  twenty  years,  therefore,  the  Philippine  Government  has  been 
ibject  to  constitutional  limitations  and  safeguards.  They  have 
2come  imbedded  in  the  political  life  of  the  people,  and  no  matter 
hat  political  change  may  occur  in  the  Philippines,  they  will  hardly 
ad  any  material  alteration. 

It  is  a  "stable  government,"  as  America  has  used  that  phrase  in 

27 


recognizing  the  new  governments  of  South  America,  and  more 
especially  in  withdrawing  her  military  occupation  from  Cuba.  A 
stable  government  has  meant,  in  American  international  law,  espec- 
ially in  her  relations  with  Cuba,  a  government  elected  and  supported 
by  the  people  themselves.  We  have  such  a  government  today  in 
the  Philippine  Islands. 

In  the  words  of  Secretary  of  War  Baker,  who  has  departmental 
supervision  of  the  Philippines,  "the  functions  of  government  have 
been  taken  over  by  the  people  of  the  Islands  themselves,  leaving 
only  the  tenuous  connection  of  the  Governor-General."  The 
Governor-General  may  leave  tomorrow,  and  no  institutional  change 
will  be  necessary  to  continue  the  work  of  government.  There  is  a 
stable  governmental  machinery  set  up  and  supported  by  the  entire 
people  and  representing  the  entire  people  to  which  the  governmental 
powers  can  be  transferred. 

(For  further  discussion  of  the  government  established  in  the 
Philippines  and  its  accomplishments  see  Kalaw,  "Self-Government 
in  the  Philippines,"  Century  Company,  1919.) 


Filipino  Loyalty  During  the  War 

During  the  Great  War  America  took  away  from  the  Islands 
practically  every  white  soldier,  and  the  keeping  of  peace  and  order 
was  left  in  the  hands  of  Filipinos.  These  have  been  kept  as  never 
before.  The  American  flag  became  more  firmly  planted  on  Philip- 
pine soil  because  it  has  rested  on  the  confidence  and  affection  of  the 
people.  The  Filipinos  responded  to  this  confidence  shown  them  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  by  offering  the  service  of  25,000 
men  themselves.  Their  division  was  ready  to  go  to  France  when  the 
armistice  was  signed.  The  Filipino  people  contributed  a  submarine 
and  destroyer  to  the  fleet  of  the  United  States,  and  six  thousand  of 
their  men  are  now  serving  in  the  United  States  Navy  as  volunteers. 
Four  thousand  Filipinos  in  Hawaii,  who  could  have  claimed  exemp- 
tion from  the  draft  under  the  citizenship  clause  of  the  draft  law, 
insisted  on  being  enrolled  under  the  Stars  and  Stripes.  Not  a  word 
was  heard  from  Filipino  lips  during  the  war  on  their  claim  to  inde- 
pendence, believing  that  such  an  attitude  might  embarrass  the 
United  States.  "With  fine  self-restraint,"  says  Secretary  of  War, 
Baker,  "the  Filipino  people  refrained  from  active  discussion  of  this 
question,  deeming  it  inopportune  at  the  time,  and  threw  all  of  their 
resources  into  the  common  scale  with  the  people  of  the  United 
States."  With  the  limited  resources  of  the  Philippines,  poor  as 
the  Filipino  people  are  compared  with  the  United  States,  they 
have  voluntarily  given  half  a  million  dollars  to  Red  Cross  funds 
and  subscribed  nearly  $20,000,000  to  Liberty  Bonds.  Their  allot- 
ment to  the  Third  Liberty  Loan  was  only  $3,000,000,  but  they 
subscribed  $4,625,000.  Their  allotment  to  the  Fourth  Liberty  Loan 
was  $6,000,000,  but  they  subscribed  $12,123,000.  "No  other  Ameri- 
can territory,"  says  Governor-General  Harrison,  "has  been  more 
loyal  to  the  United  States  than  the  Philippines."  President  Wilson  has 
also  acknowledged  this  loyalty  of  the  Filipinos  during  the  war  and 
publicly  declared  that  the  association  of  the  Philippine  Islands  with 
the  United  States  was  a  perfect  harmony  of  ideals  and  feeling  and  a 
real  friendship  and  mutual  support.  "The  people  of  the  United 
States,"  he  said,  "have  taken  the  greatest  pride  in  the  loyalty  and 
support  of  the  Filipino  people." 

28 


Harrison  Bridge,  a  beautiful  structure  spanning  the  Barruro  River  in 
La  Union  Province. 


Governor  General  Harrison  on  Filipino  Capacity 

"  The  Filipinos  today  are  enjoying  the  right  of  self-determination. 
I  have  always  been  in  complete  accord  with  most  of  the  American 
citizens  on  this  question  of  liberty,  but  it  was  only  after  a  good  many 
years  that  I  became  convinced  of  the  entire  practicability  of  giving 
them  complete  independence. 

"  Gentlemen,  they  have  acted  with  the  greatest  moderation  and  the 
greatest  self  restraint,  and  with  the  greatest  respect  for  the  American 
flag.  During  the  war,  the  talk  of  independence  which  has  been  the 
subject  of  discourse  by  every  schoolboy  who  arose  on  every  occasion 
when  he  was  given  a  chance  for  many  years  past,  was  stilled.  It  was 
not  because  the  people  had  lost  interest  in  independence,  but  it  was 
because  the  Filipino  people  thought  it  was  not  respectful  to  the 
United  States  to  raise  the  question  of  independence  at  a  time  when 
the  United  States  was  engaged  in  the  greatest  struggle  in  the  course 
of  history."  (From  the  speech  of  Governor  General  Francis  Burton 
Harrison,  before  the  Merchant's  Association  of  New  York,  April 
17,  1919.) 

At  the  dinner  given  the  Philippine  Mission  by  the  Merchant's 
Association  of  New  York,  Governor  Harrison  said: 

"There  are  about  1,000  municipalities  in  the  Philippines,  all  of 
whom  are  governed  by  elective  Filipino  officials.  There  are  about 
forty-two  Provinces  in  the  Islands,  likewise  governed  by  Filipinos. 
There  are  two  elective  Houses  of  the  Legislature  composed  entirely 
of  Filipinos.  The  Bench  is  composed  almost  entirely  of  Filipinos. 
Out  of  seven  members  in  the  Cabinet,  six  are  Filipinos,  and 
most  of  the  heads  of  the  Executive  Departments  of  the  Govern- 

29 


Capitol  building  of  the  province  of  La  Laguna,  a  type  of  the  beautiful 
and  serviceable  provincial  capitol  buildings' that  are  appearing  in  the 
Philippines. 

ment  are  Filipinos  today.  It  is  true  that  there  are  still  some  700 
Americans  in  the  Philippines,  but  for  the  most  part  they  are  teachers, 
professors  and  scientists,  and  to  my  mind  a  class  of  men  who  would 
be  desired  by  the  Filipinos  even  if  they  had  complete  independence. 

"That  presents  a  picture  of  practical  autonomy.  It  has  been 
going  on  for  the  last  two  and  a  half  years,  or  ever  since  the  recent 
charter  has  been  given  us  by  Congress,  and  in  my  opinion,  during 
those  two  and  a  half  years  the  Filipinos,  having  been  given  an  op- 
portunity, have  satisfactorily  demonstrated  the  fact  that  they  have 
already  established  and  are  maintaining  the  stable  form  of  govern- 
ment which  is  prescribed  in  the  preamble  to  the  Jones  bill  as  a  pre- 
requisite to  their  independence." 

Speaking  at  the  Knickerbocker  Club  in  New  York,  he  said: 

"By  temperament,  by  experience,  by  financial  ability,  in  every 
way  the  ten  millions  of  Filipinos  are  entitled  to  be  free  from  every 
government  except  of  their  own  choice.  They  are  intelligent  enough 
to  decide  for  themselves. 

"I  have  found  the  native  Filipino  official  to  be  honest,  efficient  and 
as  capable  of  administering  executive  positions  as  any  men  I  have 
met  anywhere  in  the  world. 

"  They  have  leaders  like  Speaker  Osmena,  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, and  President  Quezon,  of  the  Senate,  who  would  adorn 
any  office. 

"The  Philippines  are  away  ahead  of  the  United  States  in  success- 
ful government  ownership  and  operation  of  public  utilities. 

"The  government  took  hold  of  the  steam  railways  and  made  them 
pay  a  profit  of  1,000,000'pesos  a  year  more  than  under  private  owner- 
ship. 

"It  took  hold  of  the  highways,  and  we  have  7,000  miles  of  the  best 
macadamized  roads  in  the  world.  The  Manila  city  government  is 

30 


A  mountain  of  salt  at   tin- vsalt  springs  of  Salinas,  province  of  Nuevo 
Vizcaya. 

about  to  take  over  the  street  railways  and  the  gas  and  electric  plants, 
while  the  territorial  government  is  arranging  for  ownership  and 
control  of  the  coal  supply." 

Acting  Governor  Yeater  on  the  Philippine  Congress 

"The  capacity  for  initiative  and  the  constructive  spirit  evidenced 
by  the  Legislature,  the  first  organized  under  the  Jones  law,  is  worthy 
of  great  commendation.  Its  capacity  to  investigate  government 
problems  and  to  act  expeditiously,  but  with  due  caution,  is  certainly 
unprecedented  in  history,  considering  that  for  three  centuries  this 
people  had  practically  no  political  rights  and  were  debarred  from 
the  benefits  of  education.  American  legislative  practice  and  pro- 
cedure has  always  been  examined,  and,  with  few  exceptions,  followed. 
As  indicative,  however,  of  their  independent  frame  of  mind,  it  may 
be  noted  that  a  single  legislative  committee  has  had  charge  of  both 
appropriations  and  ways  and  means  since  1907,  and  under  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Jones  law  has  adopted  substantially  the  basic  principles 
of  the  English  budget  system,  instead  of  maintaining  a  rigorous  appli- 
cation of  the  theory  of  the"* separation  of  governmental  powers  alT, 
far  as  the  legislative  and  executive  departments  are  concerned,  the. 
latter  directed  by  an  American^  This  Legislature  has  given  to  the 
secretaries  of  the  various  departments  the  right  to  appear  before 
either  house  to  defend  publicly  the  measures  proposed  by  the  execu- 
tive, or  to  oppose  measures  originated  in  such  houses. 

"Finally,  as  one  of  the  representatives  in  these  Islands  of  the 
United  States,  I  wish  to  attest  the  patriotism  of  the  Filipinos  and 
their  loyal  attachment  to  the  United  States  Government.  This 
Legislature,  which  has  just  terminated  its  sessions,  has  acted  with 
judgment  and  prudence,  and  in  what  it  has  done  and  left  undone 
during  its  term  now  drawing  to  a  close,  and  should  be  credited  for 
the  wisdom  with  which  it  has  guided  and  directed  the  Filipino  people 

31 


A  modern  method  of  transporting  sugar  cane  in  the  Philippines. 

in  the  paths  of  order  and  tranquillity  during  these  recent  years  of 
almost  universal  turmoil  and  unrest.  Perfect  peace  has  prevailed 
here,  and  all  provincial  and  municipal  governments'  instrumental- 
ities of  force  have  had  no  function  to  perform.  (Acting  Governor 
Yeater  to  the  War  Department,  February  10,  1919.) 

Some   Outstanding   Accomplishments   of  the  Filipino-Con- 
ducted Government 

The  internal  improvements  so  happily  begun  by  the  Americans 
have  been  given  greater  impetus.  At  the  end  of  1914,  when  the 
Executive  and  the  Upper  House  of  the  Legislature  were  controlled 
by  Americans,  there  were  only  2,317  kilometers  of  first-class  macad- 
amized roads,  but  at  the  end  of  1918,  after  four  years  of  Philippine 
autonomy,  this  was  more  than  doubled.  In  1913.  at  the  time  of 
Governor-General  Forbes,  whose  main  achievement  was  the  im- 
provement of  public  "works,  the  government  did  not  spend  over 
3,000,000  pesos,  or  $1,500,000,  a  year  for  public  improvements.  The 
appropriation  for  1919  for  public  works  alone  is  17,000,000  pesos,  or 
$8,500,000.  A  system  of  government  has  been  evolved  whereby  an 
efficient  cooperation  between  the  Executive  and  Legislature  is 
effected  and  responsible  leadership  assured.  A  Council  of  State  has 
been  established  composed  of  members  of  the  cabinet  and  legislative 
leaders,  with  a  Filipino  Vice-President,  which  formulates  the  admin- 
istrative policy  of  the  government  and  recommends  measures  to 
the  legislature.  The  Philippine  Legislature  also  established  a  bud- 
get system  which  has  been  considered  by  all  a  success.  There  are 
now  675,000  pupils  attending  4,700  public  schools,  as  against  440,000 
pupils  and  3,000  schools  in  1912.  The  Philippine  Legislature  has 
recently  voted  $15,000,000  for  free  public  school  education,  which 
will  give  the  rudiments  of  education  to  every  school  child  of  the 
Philippines.  The  same  Legislature  established  the  largest  bank  west 

32 


A  class  in  a  public  school  in  the  Philippine  Islands.  The  government 
supports  4,700  schools,  with  a  teaching  force  of  12,303  teachers,  provid- 
ing instruction  for  675,000  pupils. 

of   Chicago,    whose  resources   have    jumped    in   three   years   from 
$10,000,000  to  $125,000,000. 

Seventy  Per  Cent  Are  Literate 

Seventy  per  cent  of  the  Filipino  people  above  ten  years  of  age  can 
read  and  write.  This  percentage  of  literacy  is  almost  as  high  as 
some  of  the  States  of  the  Union  and  is  higher  than  in  any  country  of 
South  America,  higher  than  the  literacy  of  the  Spanish  people,  un- 
questionably above  that  of  any  of  the  new  countries  recognized  in 
Europe,  and  over  that  of  Greece,  Italy,  Portugal,  Romania  and 
Servia.  (From  the  census  estimate  cabled  by  Director  of  the  Philip- 
pine Census  to  the  War  Department.) 

Division  of  Property 

There  are  a  million  and  a  half  farms  in  the  Philippines,  and  96 
per  cent  of  these  farms  are  owned  by  Filipinos.  In  other  words,  out 
of  the  ten  million  Christian  Filipinos,  eight  million  of  them  at  least 
live  on  their  own  farms,  with  houses  of  their  own,  independent  of  any 
absentee  landlord  or  foreign  master.  Ninety-one  per  cent  of  the 
urban  property,  consisting  of  houses  and  lands,  is  owned  by  the 
natives  of  the  Philippines,  and  only  9  per  cent  is  in  the  hands  of 
foreigners.  (Facts  cabled  by  Acting  Governor-General  Charles 
Emmett  Yeater  to  the  War  Department  from  the  recent  census 
estimates.) 

Recent  Economic  Progress 

The  Philippines  import  cotton,  iron,  steel,  rice,  milk,  flour,  paper, 
leather,  dairy  products,  automobiles,  coal,  fibers,  vegetables,  tex- 
tiles, oils,  chemicals,  drugs,  dyes,  medicines,  meat  products,  instru- 


Girls'  Dormitory,  Philippine  Normal  School,  Manila. 

mental  apparatus,  tobacco,  soap,  manufactures  of  wood,  books, 
printed  matter,  glass,  cocoa,  etc.  It  exports,  ham,  sugar,  cocoanut 
oil,  tobacco,  foreign  merchandise,  fats,  lumber,  pearl  buttons,  cocoa- 
nuts,  etc. 

The  total  foreign  commerce  in  1913  was  $107,685,742  with  a 
balance  against  her  of  $5,500,000,  while  last  year,  1918,  her  foreign 
commerce  reached  $234,281,747  with  a  balance  of  trade  in  her  favor 
of  $37,083,324,  or  an  increase  of  $133,196,005  of  the  1918  trade  over 
that  of  1913,  an  increase  of  131  per  cent  from  1913  to  1918. 

With  respect  to  our  monetary  circulation,  we  had  in  1913,  or  a 
year  before  the  war,  $25,348,626,  or  $2.76  per  capita,  while  at 
present  we  have  in  circulation  $66,301,484,  or  $6.74  per  capita.  Our 
total  bonded  indebtedness  amounts  only  to  $26,000,000,  of  which 
more  than  $4,000,000  has  already  been  set  aside  to  pay  it. 

Taxation  in  the  Philippines  was  $2.14  per  capita  in  1913  as  com- 
pared with  $2.68  per  capita  in  1917. 

The  Philippine  National  Bank  is  an  incontrovertible  evidence  of 
the  great  financial  progress  of  the  country.  It  was  organized  with 
resources  amounting  to  $5,900,000  on  May  25,  1916,  and  gradually 
rose  to  $14,650,000  on  July  15,  1916;  $25,350,000  on  December  31, 
1916;  $49,017,500  on  June  30,  1917;  $69,138,000  on  December  31, 
1917;  $105,471,000  on  June  30,  1918;  and  $124,399,039.04  on 
December  31,  1918. 

As  a  true  sign  of  the  notable  development  which  up  to  this  time 
has  been  shown  in  the  commerce  of  our  country  are  the  3,065  domestic 
corporations  and  partnerships  organized  in  the  Islands  during  the 
last  few  years  with  a  capital  aggregating  452,192,197.43  pesos,  not 
to  mention  ninety-five  large  American  and  a  considerable  number  of 
world-famed  foreign  concerns  with  enormous  additional  capital 
also  having  agencies  and  branches  in  the  Islands. 

"The  imports  of  the  Philippines  in  1918  amounted  to  197,198,423 
pesos,  of  which  59.7  per  cent,  consisting  principally  of  cotton,  iron, 

34 


Boys  attending  the  16  provincial  trade  schools  of  the  Philippines  receive 
practical  vocational  training. 

steel  and  oil,  came  from  the  United  States.  The  exports  for  the 
same  year  amounted  to  271,365,671  pesos,  of  which  66.1  per  cent, 
consisting  principally  of  copra,  hemp,  and  sugar,  came  to  the  United 
States. 

"Only  from  hemp,  copra  and  sugar,  exported  from  the  Philippines 
in  1917,  the  United  States  received  82,338,515  pesos. 

"None  of  the  other  nations  iii  the  world  has  taken  of  the  foreign 
trade  of  the  Philippines  more  than  10  per  cent,  but  the  United  States 
alone  took  63  per  cent."  (Data  supplied  by  the  Hon.  Dionisio 
Jakosalem,  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Communications  of  the 
Philippine  Government.) 

Growth  of  Schools  During  the  Six  Years  of  Philippine 
Autonomy 

The  Philippine  public  school  system  is  one  of  the  largest  under  the 
American  flag,  and  it  is  growing.  Between  1912  and  1918  the  total 
number  of  children  in  school  increased  from  440,000  to  675,000,  a 
gain  of  54  per  cent  in  six  years.  The  larger  number  of  pupils  at- 
tended 4,700  schools,  the  smaller  3,000,  which  means  that,  in  1918, 
1,700  more  communities  enjoyed  educational  privileges  than  in 
1912.  During  the  same  period  the  number  of  intermediate  pupils 
grew  to  67,000,  a  gain  of  160  per  cent;  and  the  number  of  high  school 
students  reached  16,000,  a  gain  of  220  per  cent.  And  the  Philip- 
pines have  no  compulsory  attendance  law! 

"The  Filipino  educational  system  has  attracted  the  attention  of 
thinking  men  in  the  Orient  and  has  merited  the  condemnation  and 
commendation  of  men,  scholarly  men,  from  the  West.  JusFTb  cite 
one  authority',  Dr.  PauT~Monroe,  of  Columbia  University,  probably 
the  greatest  living  authority  on~fhe  history  of  education  today,  after 
a  sojourn  of  several  weeks  in  the  Philippine  Islands  and  after  a 
thorough  investigation  of  educational  conditions  in  the  Philippines, 

35 


*•• 


Ifugao  igorrot  rice  terraces,  which  are  among  the  most  remarkable  of 

i  their  kind  in  the  world.     It  is  estimated  there  are  12,121  miles  of  8-foot 

I  stone  walls  in  the  Ifugao  terraces,   which  is  approximately  half  the 

distance  around  the  world.     These  terraces  are  skillfully  irrigated  by 

water  brought  in  troughs  along  the  precipitous   mountain  sides  over 

long  distances. 

left  the  Islands,  leaving,  for  the  benefit  of  educational  authorities, 
a  report  replete  with  constructive  suggestions.  He  closed  that 
report  in  the  following  words,  which  I  quote: 

"'It  seems  probable  to  an  observer  that  greater  educational  pro- 
gress has  been  made  in  the  Philippine  Islands  in  ten  or  twelve  years 
than  in  any  similar  period  or  in  any  place  in  the  history  of  edu- 
cation. '  "  (From  the  speech  of  the  Assistant  Director  of  Education 
before  the  Merchants'  Association  of  New  York,  April  17,  1919.) 

Establishment  of  Universal  Free  Education 

"The  most  important  measure  (passed  by  the  all-Philippine 
Legislature)  in  my  judgment,  is  that  by  which  over  30,000,000  pesos 
were  appropriated  for  the  extension  of  universal  free  education  to 
all  the  children  of  the  islands.  This  act  is  of  prime  importance,  not 
only  because  it  provides  funds  for  a  term  of  years  sufficient  to  extend 
a  primary  education  of  seven  grades  to  all  the  children  of  school 
age,  but  also  because  it  enables  the  Bureau  of  Education  to  prepare 
and  carry  into  execution  a  complete  and  systematic  development 
of  the  existing  excellent  educational  plan,  which  lacked  only  exten- 
sion over  the  entire  field.  Further  more,  it  is  a  means  of  incalculable 
value  for  the  welfare  of  the  Filipino  people,  since  it  will  banish  illiter- 
acy, establish  permanently  English  as  the  common  language  of  the 
land,  afford  a  firm  foundation  for  democratic  institutions,  and  insure 
order  and  stability  to  the  insular  government. 

"The  adoption  of  this  thoroughly  American  educational  measure 

36 


will  tend  greatly  to  lift  the  moral  responsibility  incumbent  on  the 
United  States  to  secure  a  firm  and  orderly  government,  and  aside 
from  the  differences  of  opinion  which  may  have  existed  among . 
American  statesmen  in  the  past,  it  has  been  advocated  by  all  Amer- 
icans from  the  beginning  of  the  occupation  that  universal  free  educa- 
tion of  the  masses  should  be  an  essential  characteristic  of  our  national 
policy  in  the  Philippines.  Inasmuch  as  when  Congress  considered 
paragraph  2,  the  acts  of  July  1  and  19,  and  of  August  29,  1916, 
much  discussion  was  had  about  the  political  capacity  of  the  Philip- 
pines, I  feel  that  I  discharge  a  dvty  of  conscience  to  call  your  atten- 
tion to  the  fact  that  this  enlightened  measure  was  passed  by  the 
legislative  department  of  the  government,  which,  as  you  know,  is 
composed  entirely  of  Filipinos.  By  this  law  of  universal  free  educa- 
tion the  all-Philippine  Legislature  in  the  last  two  years  has  provided 
for  doubling  the  quantity  of  the  educational  work  effected  in  almost 
two  decades  of  previous  American  occupation.  Under  the  financial 
support  previously  given,  it  was  necessary  to  turn  away  from  the 
doors  of  the  schoolhouse  one-half  of  all  the  children  of  the  Islands. 
In  five  years  all  the  children  of  the  land  will  receive  educational 
advantages.  Besides  this,  the  salaries  of  all  municipal  teachers  will 
be  increased  30  per  cent.  (From  a  cable  report  of  Acting  Governor 
Yeater  to  the  War  Department,  dated  February  10,  1919.) 

The  Non-Christian  Peoples  of  the  Philippines 

According  to  the  census  estimate  of  1918,  out  of  the  population  of 
10,500,000  Filipinos,  there  are  500,000  inhabitants  who  belong  to  the^ 
so-called  non-Christian  tribes.  The  most  numerous  of  these  non- 
Christian  peopie  are  the  IVToros,  who  inhabit  the  Sulu  Archipelago 
and  certain  parts  of  Mindanao.  The  Mountain  Province  and  Nueva 
Vizcaya,  in  Luzon,  contain  also  non-Christian  people. 
I  Unlike  the  backward  peoples  in  other  parts  of  the  globe,  the  non- 

Christian  peoples  of  the  Philippine.,  liave  always  received  humani- 
tarian treatment  from  the  American  Government  as  well  as  from 
(        their   Christian   brothers.     From    1913   to   1916   the  non-Christian 
I        peoples  were  under  the  exclusive  control  and  jurisdiction  of  the  Phil- 
'        ippine  Commission  composed  of  a  majority  of  Filipinos.     Since  the 
|        passage  of  the  Jones  law  in  1916,  the  Philippine  Legislature,  com- 
posed entirely  of  Filipinos,  assumed  legislative  control  of  the  non- 
Christian    tribes.     Since    1913,    therefore,    the    representatives    of 
|        the  Christian  Filipinos  have  dictated  the  policy  pursued  toward  their 
I        non-Christian  brothers. 

8  Upon  the  establishment  of  the  Bureau  of  non-Christian  tribes  by 

section  22  of  the  Jones  law,  Ihe  Philippine  Legislature  on  February 
20,  1917,  enacted  Act  No.  2674  providing  for  the  operation  of  said 
bureau.  That  law  defines  in  a  clear  and  unequivocal  term  the 
policy  of  the  Government  towards  the  non-Christian  people  as  fol- 
lows: 


• 

I 

(".  .  .  to  foster  by  all  adequate  means  and  in  a  systematic, 
rapid  and  complete  manner  the  moral,  material,  economic,  social 
and  political  development  of  the  regions  inhabited  by  non-Christian 
Filipinos,  always  having  in  view  the  aim  of  rendering  perma  ent 
the  mutual  intelligence  between  and  complete  fusion  of  all  the 
Christian  and  non-Christian  elements  populating  the  provinces  of 
the  Archipelago." 

Our  policy  towards  the  non-Christian  peoples  is  pronounced  by 
all  unbiased  observers  a  decided  success.     It  is  an  unprecedented 
treatment  of  the  non-Christian  peoples  by  their  more  civilized  fel- 
5  38 


' 


low-men,  who,  by  sheer  number,  strength  and  civilization,  could,        | 
under  recognized  practices,  claim  to  be  the  sole  owners  of  the  coun-        j 
try.     Millions  of  pesos  are  taken  every  year  from  the  pockets  of 
the  Christian  Filipinos  and  sent  to  the  non-Christian  tribes  for  the 
establishment  of  schools,  hospitals,  and  for  the  development  of  their        j 
agriculture.     As  a  result,  the  standard  of  the  Moro  people  is  today 
much  nearer  that  of  their   Christian  brothers.     Teachers,   doctors 
and  nurses  from  all  over  the  islands  have  carried  a  message  of        j 
friendship  and  love,  and   have  established  more  firmly  the  national 
solidarity  of  Christians  and  non-Christians  than  the  severest  policy  of 
blood  and  iron  would  have  done.     Order  has  been  kept  as  never  be-        j 
/ore,  and  now  people  can  travel  from  one  end  of  the  Moro  region  to 
the  other  in  safety.     "  Contrary  to  the  prediction  of  the  calamity 
howlers,"  says  the  constabulary  commander  of  Mindanao  and  Sulu        j 
(Col.  Ole  Waloe)  in  his  memorandum  addressed  to  the  Department 
Secretary  on  November  23,   1918,  "the  Christian  Filipino  officers 
of  the  constabulary  have  succeeded  completely  in  winning  the  respect 
and  confidence  of  the  Moro  people."     The  participation  that  the        j 
non-Christian  peoples  were  given  in  national  law-making  has  bound 
them  closer  and  closer  still  to  the  Christian  Filipinos.     "We  are  one 
in  spirit  and  one  in  blood,"  said  the  foremost  citizen  of  the  Moro        j 
people,  Senator  Hadji  Butu. 

The  Filipino  Woman 

The  position  of  the  Filipino  woman  in  the  Orient  is  unique.  j 
"  Midway  geographically  between  the  kimono  maiden  of  Japan  and 
the  veiled  lady  of  India,"  says  an  American  writer  (Emma  Sarepta  | 
Vule,  in  The  Philippines  Monthly,  1915),  "and  alongside  of  the  'lily-  j 
footed'  dame  of  China  is  the  woman  of  the  Philippines,  a  woman 
unique  in  the  Orient,  a  woman  in  whose  development  there  has  been 
neither  seclusion,  nor  oppression,  nor  servitude."  Even  before  the 
coming  of  the  Spaniards  four  centuries  ago,  the  Filipino  woman  held 
a  relatively  high  position.  The  Spanish  discoverers  found  the 
Filipino  woman  sharing  equally  with  her  husband  the  rights  and 
duties  of  the  home,  and  in  case  of  his  death  inheriting  half  of  their 
joint  gains.  Sometimes  the  position  of  the  chief  official  of  a  town, 
upon  his  eath,  fell  to  the  widow  when  there  was  no  male  heir. 
Christian  ideals  strengthened  the  position  of  the  Filipino  woman  and 
gave  her  even  greater  freedom  and  power.  Today  she  is  the  mistress 
of  the  home  and  the  safe  keeper  of  the  family  funds.  Through  her 
hold  in  the  home  she  wields  a  strong  influence  in  the  outside  world. 
In  business  she  is  the  equal,  if  not  the  superior,  of  her  mate;  and 
politically,  though  she  does  not  enjoy  popular  suffrage,  she  has 
proven,  to  quote  the  American  writer  again,  "in  more  than  one  case, 
indeed  in  very  many,  that  she  is  an  active  campaigner  of  no  mean 
-order." 

The  education  of  the  Filipino  woman  has  broadened  her  scope  in 
life  and  is  making  her  more  interested  in  the  civic  activities  of  the 
Philippines.  In  1917  there  were  enrolled  in  the  primary  and  inter- 
mediate grades  of  the  public  schools  234,905  girls.  Filipino  women 
are  now  occupying  positions  in  the  Bureau  of  Education  and  the 
University  of  the  Philippines.  While  there  is  no  strong  agitation  for 
suffrage,  it  is  doubtful  whether,  when  they  demand  it,  their  brothers 
will  deny  it  to  them.  There  have  been  established  over  fifty  wo- 
men's clubs  in  the  Philippines,  engaged  in  social  settlement  work,  the 
mprovement  of  health  conditions,  and  the  prevention  of  infant 
nortality.  Writers  on  the  Philippines  and  observers  of  Philippine 

39 


testified  to  |1<0  superiorly 


;in<I  will  coMPx***  ,  upon  the  count.  r\ 

"Possibly      .      .      .      on  thf  ~c  -  '<->1    >  whv.":  I'M:  lolos  bloTfc  A  '  .  - 

the  cocoanut  lifts  high  its  gre^n-cro,,  ;<;;!  he  •;  there  may  evolve  til 
alturia  of  the  vision  of  the  suffrage  ue,  a  land  of  perfect  sex  equalit 
with  chivalry  tipping  the  scale  in  favor  of  lovely  woman."     That  ws 
the  promise  pictured  by  the  American  writer  who  has  paid  such 
pleasing  tribute  to  the  Filipino  women. 

Japan  in  the  Philippines 

Responsible  Japanese  officials  have  said  that  they  do  not  want  th 
Philippines.  Dr.  lyenaga,  one  of  Japan's  most  active  publicit 
agents  in  the  United  States,  once  said  that  Japan  would  not  accep 
the  Philippines  even  as  a  gift.  "Unless  that  gift  should  be  a< 
companied  not  by  $20,000,000,  the  sum  you  gave  to  Spain,  but  by 
round  billion  of  dollars  to  be  expended  for  the  education  and  develop 
ment  of  the  Filipinos,  Japan  would  surely  decline  your  offer.  Japa 
has  no  use  for  the  Philippines  for  colonization  purposes  because  it 
climate  is  as  unfitted  to  us  for  that  purpose  as  it  is  for  you.  On 
experience  in  Formosa  has  convinced  us  of  that."  Another  Japanes 
writer  equally  well  known  in  the  United  States,  Mr.  K.  Kawakam 
while  not  going  as  far  as  Dr.  lyenaga,  emphatically  says  that  Japa 
has  no  desire  to  acquire  the  Philippines. 

Japan  has  had  the  Island  for  over  twenty  years,  and  yet  there  ar 
now  barely  150,000  Japanese  in  it  —  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  th 
Japanese  Government  gives  financial  help  to  Japanese  subject 
emigrating  to  Formosa.  It  is  said  that  in  1912  alone  the  Japanes 
Government  spent  over  $200,000  to  help  1,760  emigrants  to  th 
Island.  (Abbott,  "Japanese  Expansion.")  Today  there  are  onl, 
about  7,000  Japanese  in  the  Philippines. 


40 


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